Correlation between Intake and Composition of Fatty Acids in Meat from Lambs Fed Diets Containing Soybean Hulls

The present study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the composition of fatty acids in the diet and Longissimus dorsi muscle of lambs diets containing different levels of soybean. The experiment was conducted at the campus UESB, Itapetinga-Ba, Brazil. In a randomized design, twenty five male uncastrated male sheep were used. The treatments consisted of different levels of substitution of corn by soybean hulls (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% replacement) and elephant grass silage as roughage was supplied the experimental period of 110 days. After this period, the animals were slaughtered and samples of Longissimus dorsi were collected and vacuum-packed for later analysis of the profile of fatty acids. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to calculate the relationship between the composition of fatty acids consumed and intramuscular fatty acid content. The results demonstrated the existence positive correlation of moderate to strong between the consumed and the contained fatty acids in meat by increasing the content of conjugated linoleic acid, the acids from the n-3 and n-6 family reducing n-3 regarding the meat of lambs fed soybean hulls.