Effects of age,sex, and diet upon carcass and liver fatty acid composition of pitman-moore miniature pigs

Fatty acid composition of carcass and liver and proximate analysis of liver were studied in 14–28 day old Pitman-Moore miniature pigs, 26 sow-reared and 30 fed a semisynthetic diet in which the fat was lard. With increasing age, fat of carcass, but not of liver, became significantly more unsaturated. The percentage of palmitic acid (16∶0) and total saturated fatty acids was significantly greater and the percentage of linoleic acid (18∶2) and total unsaturated fatty acids significantly less in carcasses of male than of female pigs. No sex-related differences in proximate or fatty acid composition of the liver were noted. Carcasses of sow-reared pigs contained significantly greater percentages of myristic (14∶0), palmitoleic (16∶1), and linoleic acids and significantly lesser percentages of stearic (18∶0) and oleic (18∶1) acids than did those of pigs fed the semisynthetic diet. Diet-related differences in fatty acid composition of liver closely paralleled those of carcass, although liver contained markedly greater percentages of stearic and arachidonic (20∶4) acids and lesser percentages of palmitoleic and oleic acids than did carcass. Diet-related differences in fatty acid composition of carcass and liver are discussed in relation to the fatty acid composition of dietary fat (sow milk and lard).