Poultry meat and eggs comprising beneficial fatty acids

Abstract

The present disclosure provides for improved poultry products and methods of producing such poultry products by incorporating healthy lipids containing stearidonic acid into animal feed products. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides methods for producing said products. In one embodiment of the disclosure, a poultry animal may be fed feed comprising a transgenic plant product. In other embodiments of the disclosure, poultry white meat and dark meat products comprising SDA, EPA, DPA, and DHA are disclosed. In further embodiments of the disclosure, poultry eggs comprising SDA, EPA, DHA, and DPA are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of feeding a poultry animal comprising administering poultry feed to said animal, the poultry feed comprising
 a. stearidonic acid (SDA);   b. gamma linolenic acid (GLA); and   c. additional feed components;   wherein said poultry feed comprises at least about 0.5 wt. % SDA and at least about 0.1 wt. % GLA.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry feed further comprises a transgenic plant product selected from the group consisting of transgenic soybean, transgenic soybean oil, transgenic soy protein, transgenic corn, and transgenic canola. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry feed further comprises alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the ALA concentration is less than about 25% of the total fatty acid content of the poultry feed. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the ratio of SDA/ALA is at least about 0.5. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry feed that further comprises eicosenoic acid. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the eicosenoic acid concentration is less than about 0.7%. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the ratio of SDA/eicosenoic acid is at least about 20. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry feed further comprises tocochromanol. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the poultry feed comprises least about 10 ppm tocochromanol. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the tocochromanol is tocopherol. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said additional feed components are selected from the group consisting of salt, an antibiotic, corn, wheat, oats, barley, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, flaxseed meal, canola meal, a fish product, an algal product, an animal byproduct, wheat middlings, wheat bran, rice bran, corn distiller dried grains, brewers grains, corn gluten meal, corn gluten feed, molasses, rice mill byproduct, corn oil, flax oil, soy protein, palm oil, animal fat, poultry fat, restaurant grease, an antioxidant, tocochromanol, tocopherol, a vitamin, a mineral, an amino acid, and a coccidostat. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry feed comprises a transgenic soybean oil comprising SDA. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the poultry feed comprises at least 0.8 wt. % SDA. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the poultry feed comprises at least 1.5 wt. % SDA. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the poultry feed comprises from 1.08 wt. % to 1.2 wt. % SDA. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry feed comprises from 4.5 wt. % to 5 wt. % transgenic soybean oil having 24.1 wt. % SDA based on the total weight of the fatty acids. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry animal is a chicken, a turkey, a Cornish game hen, a pheasant, a quail, a duck, a goose, or a pigeon. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry animal is a chicken or a turkey. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the poultry animal comprises a chicken.