Monogastrics – effect of fatty acids and age on available energy

The interrelationship between type of fatty acid, proportion of free fatty acids, and age of animal (pigs) on digestible energy concentration is presented in Figure 1 (Wiseman et al., 1998). These data highlight higher digestibility of fats in older animals, those with lower free fatty acid concentrations compared to triglycerides, and those with increased proportion of unsaturated fatty acids compared to saturated fatty acids.USFA-SFA

Figure 1     The effect of unsaturated (USFA) : saturated (SFA) fatty acid ratio and the percentage of free fatty acids (5 or 50%) on the digestible energy concentration in young (Y) or growing/finishing (GF) pigs