Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Omega-3 and Omega-6 Rich Oil on Growth Performance and Pubertal Age in Sahiwal Heifers
Abstract
The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with Omega-3 and Omega-6 rich oil on growth performance, blood metabolites, ovarian follicular growth and pubertal age in Sahiwal heifers. Eighteen healthy Sahiwal heifers of average 18.33±1.14 month’s age and 194±4.16 kg body weights were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups viz. T1, T2 & T3with 6 animals in each. Heifers were individually fed as per ICAR (2013) diets of chopped wheat straw, green fodder and concentrate mixture. The concentrate mixtures fed to the heifers under treatment group T2 and T3 were supplemented with ω-6 fatty acid rich soybean oil and ω-3 fatty acid rich linseed oils@ 3.5 percent, respectively. To make the rations iso-caloric, palm oil @ 3.5 percent was supplemented in the concentrate mixture of heifers in control group (T1). All the concentrate mixtures were isonitrogenous and isocaloric. Saturated fatty acid percent was highest in palm oil followed by soybean oil and least in linseed oil. Omega-6 proportion was highest in soybean oil (52.30%) as compared to palm oil (10.78) and linseed oil (16.40%) while omega-3 was found to be highest in linseed oil (55.60%).Daily DMI was significantly (P<0.05) higher in heifers fed linseed oil supplemented concentrate mixture as compared to others. Total body weight gain and ADG was significantly (P<0.05) higher T3 than T2 and control heifers. The OMD was significantly (P<0.05) improved in groups fed omega-6 and omega-3 rich oils as compared to control. The CP, DCP and TDN percent; and TDN intake did not differ among different dietary treatments. The FCE improved upon supplementation of omega-3 rich FA oil, but non-statistically.
Plasma concentration of glucose, NEFA, triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol remained unaffected among different treatments. LO or SO supplementation increased (P<0.05) serum total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol level over control. Plasma GH did not differ among different treatments but Insulin was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the plasma of heifers in T3. Pooled values of plasma IGF-1 was
significantly higher in T2 and T3 compared to T1. Plasma progesterone level at day 12 post-estrous was significantly higher in T3 compared to control and T2.Number of large sized follicles (≥10mm) and size of ovulatory follicle increased significantly (P<0.05) upon PUFA supplementation. The CL size was greater (P<0.05) in T2 and T3 heifers as compared to control. Feeding linseed oil resulted in significant (P<0.05) reduction in the estrous age of Sahiwal heifers as compared to others.
The findings of the present study inferred that feeding PUFA rich oil to pre-pubertal Sahiwal heifer’s results in advantageous changes in the blood metabolites, plasma hormones and ovarian functions without any negative effects on nutrients’ utilization. The study deduced that ω-3 fatty acid supplementation reduces pubertal age of Sahiwal heifers.
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