Fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition of the subcutaneous fat from iberian pigs fattened on the traditional feed: “Montanera”. effect of anatomical location and length of feeding

Abstract

Fatty acid and triacylglycerol compositions of 200 samples of subcutaneous fat from two different anatomical locations (rump and adipose tissue covering the Biceps femoris muscle) of Iberian purebred pigs reared on “Montanera” were determined. Significant differences were found for the majority fatty acids and for some triacylglycerol species (PPS, PLPo + MLO, PLO, PLL + PoLO, SOS, SOL, OLL) among the two anatomical locations, being the rump location less saturated. The activity level of the key enzyme involved in lipogenesis differed (p < 0.0001) significantly between both tissues. The effect of campaign on the fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition was also explored. An increase on the ratio oleic/stearic has been found in campaigns with low resources. This indicates an increase on the activity of Stearoyl-CoA desaturase. Besides, the differences found between both subcutaneous fats during the fattening period indicates that the unsaturation of the subcutaneous fat covering a muscle with high oxidative metabolism, as Biceps femoris, increases faster than that of the subcutaneous fat covering a muscle with low oxidative metabolism, as Longissimus dorsi.

Keywords

• anatomical location
• fatty acids
• iberian pig
• subcutaneous fat
• triacylglicerols