Accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by concentrate selecting ruminants.

Depot fat samples from ruminants of different feeding type and--for comparison--fat samples from simple-stomached animals were collected within 3 months. Individual fatty acid proportions, especially the relation of essential, polyunsaturated fatty acids to nonessential, saturated plus monounsaturated fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography. Species can be separated into two distinct groups: Depot fat of wild boar showed by far the highest content of essential fatty acids compared with all ruminant species. The subsequent inter-ruminant comparison yielded a further separation into two distinct groups related to feeding type. Roe deer and moose, constituting the first group of concentrate selectors, showed significantly higher percentages of polyunsaturated fatty acids than the other ruminant species comprised of the grass and roughage eaters or intermediates. The data document that the mode of feeding and/or the diet affects the body composition of the species investigated and that the depot fat composition of these ruminant species is markedly related to feeding type.