Agroscope, Institute for Livestock Sciences ILS, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland

Determination of fatty acid composition in feed – analytical methods

This paper illustrates the importance of the analytical method for the determination of fatty acid composition in feed. In Switzerland, not only the lipid content but also the fatty acids profile are necessary to formulate a ration that will produce an optimum quality of fat in the pig carcass. Results of this study showed that the fatty acid profile obtained by gas chromatography (GC) with in situ transesterification was more accurate and complete than that obtained by a GC method in two steps (fat extraction followed by esterification) or by a gravimetric empirical method which employed the extraction of soluble compounds in a given solvent.

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