The hydrogenation of dietary unsaturated fatty acids by the ruminant

Summary Goats were fed alfalfa meal containing 10% cottonseed or linseed oil. After 11 weeks the fatty acids of rumen, stomach, and caecum contents were compared to those of the feed. It was found that the high levels of linoleic and linolenic acis of the feed were reduced to very low levels in the rumen, with comparable increases in the saturated acids. Monoethenoid acids were increased after linseed oil ingestion and in one animal after cottonseed oil ingestion. The ratio of monoethenoid to saturated acids in the rumen fat was lower than in the endogenous fat of nonruminant animals. This explains the paradox of the low ratio in the depot fat of ruminants even after the ingestion of highly unsaturated fats.