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Fish oil

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This datasheet is pending revision and updating; its contents are currently derived from FAO's Animal Feed Resources Information System (1991-2002) and from Bo Göhl's Tropical Feeds (1976-1982).

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Common names 

Fish oil

Related feed(s) 
Description 

Fish oil is extracted from fishery materials prior to making fish meal.

Nutritional aspects
Nutritional attributes 

Fish oil is an excellent source of energy, Vitamin A , D and omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamin A and D are concentrated in the liver of fish, therefore the concentration of Vitamin A and D is higher in oils extracted from livers, such as, cod liver oil, tuna liver oil, etc. Vitamin A and D can normally be provided more economically using synthetic sources.

Vitamin content of fish oil (Bailey et al., 1952)

Fish species Vitamin A Vitamin D
Fish species Vitamin A Vitamin D
Herring oil 30-300 25-160
Pilchard oil 100-500 20-100
Menhaden oil 340-500 50-100
Cod-liver oil 550-30000 85-500
Halibut-liver oil 4000-165000 550-20000
Tuna-liver oil 50000-1000000 16000-30000
Potential constraints 

The lipids associated with fish oil are highly unsaturated and can be oxidized easily, so they need to be properly stabilized and handled. Fish oils that have been oxidized can be toxic to animals and are highly unpalatable. Oxidation potential is high in fish oil, because of its content of highly unsaturated fatty acids. If the oil is not properly stabilized the formation of oxidative products can occur that can become toxic to an animal. These oxidative processes can be accelerated if the oil is exposed to light and air. Feeding of fish oil to animals, especially monogastric animals; can cause softening of fat deposits and off-flavors to develop in the edible tissues, so the care needs to be taken to assure that these problems doesn’t affect acceptability of the final products.

Oxidized fish oil is toxic to minks.

Ruminants 

Milk protein depression was observed when fish oil was fed to lactating dairy cattle (Brzoska et al., 1999). The omega-3 fatty acid content of milk was increased when fish oil was fed to lactating dairy cattle (Walkiewicz et al., 1995). Dry matter intake in lactating dairy cattle was decreased when fish oil was fed and the polyunsaturated, especially omega-3 fatty acid levels were increased in the milk (Jones et al., 1998a). Dairy cows fed fish oil tended to produce milk with lower milk fat percent and increased unsaturated fatty acid content (Jones et al., 1998b).

Feeding fish oil was not found to affect rumen fiber digestion or rumen digestion when fed to dairy cattle (Doreau, 1992). Feeding fish oil to cattle was found to decrease rumen NH3 and acetate levels (Keady et al., 1999). The protection of fish oil by chemical treatment has been shown to be a way of reducing their modification in the rumen and for increasing the omega-3 fatty acid content in the milk of lactating dairy cows (Jones et al., 1998a).

The eicosapentaenoic and docosahezaenoic acids in phospholipids were increased in calves when fish oil was fed (Jenkins et al., 1990).

Pigs 

Feeding of fish oil can increase the amount of unsaturated fat present in the tissues, especially of monogastric animals, which can cause the back fat to become soft and off-flavors to develop. The presence of unsaturated fats in the edible portions becomes a more significant problem when those portions are being processed, such as when pork hams are being smoked and cured.

Tissue content of unsaturated fatty acids was found to increase as the level of fish oil in the diet increased in swine (Barowicz et al., 1997). Neonatal piglets are shown to have ample capacity to digest and absorb the lipid components contained in fish oil (Chiang et al., 1989). Fat hardness decreased and iodine number increased of the body tissues of swine when fish oil was fed (Irie et al., 1992). Carcass quality was negatively effected in swine carcasses when fish oil was fed (Urbanczyk et al., 1997). Off-flavors and increased unsaturated fatty acid content in the tissues of swine was observed when 1 to 3 % fish oil was fed (Overland et al., 1996). Feeding 3 to 6 % fish oil to 60 kg pigs was found to cause off-flavors in the edible tissues (Lauridsen et al., 1999).

The unsaturated fatty acid levels in milk from sows fed fish oil increased (Arbuckle et al., 1993). Feeding fish oil to pregnant and lactating swine was found to increase birth weight of piglets, increase piglet weight at 21 days and decrease piglet mortality (Walkiewicz et al., 1993). The progression was retarded and regression of arteriosclerosis was observed when swine was fed fish oil (Sassen et al., 1989). Cholesterol levels associated with the Low Density Lipoprotein were increased when fish oil was fed to sows (Kirchgessner et al., 1994). Feeding of fish oil was found to increase insulin sensitivity in pigs (Behme, 1996).

Poultry 

The lipid composition in the tissues of chickens was altered when fish oil was fed (Fritsche et al., 1991; Machin et al., 1990). Feeding broilers up to 0.83 % during the starter phase and 1.14 % during growing phase was found to have no affect on flavor of the meat (Sarcicek et al., 1997). Plasma cholesterol was increased in chicks fed fish oil (Choi et al., 1995).

Feeding fish oil to layers was found to increase the unsaturated fatty acid levels in the eggs, reduce cholesterol and lipoprotein in yolk and caused only a slight change in taste (Rys et al., 1998; Korelski et al., 1998). Unsaturated fatty acid incorporation occurred at a higher rate in the tissue as compared to the egg portion in layers when fish oil was fed (Wang et al., 1993). Egg weights were found to be decreased when layers receiving were fed fish oil (Whitehead, 1995). The arachidonic to linoleic acid ratio was lowered in the tissue of layers receiving fish oil (Takita et al., 1995).

Minks 

Oxidized fish oil was found to be toxic to mink and feeding fish oil to mink impaired reproductive performance (Börsting et al., 1998).

Fish 

Incorporating fish oil into carp diets increased gains, increased body fat levels and the level of unsaturated fat in the body fat reserves (Viola et al., 1988). When fish oil was fed to tilapia no change in gain or body fat levels where observed, but the unsaturated fat level in the body fat did increase (Viola et al., 1988). Omega-3 fatty acid levels in carp and tilapia were increased as when fish oil was fed (Viola et al., 1990).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This datasheet is pending revision and updating; its contents are currently derived from FAO's Animal Feed Resources Information System (1991-2002) and from Bo Göhl's Tropical Feeds (1976-1982).

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 99.9 0.1 99.5 100.0 39
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 39.0 1
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Sodium g/kg DM 0.0 1
 
Pig nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Energy digestibility, growing pig % 86.2 *
DE growing pig MJ/kg DM 33.6 *
 
Fish nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
DE salmonids MJ/kg DM 37.6 *
Energy digestibility, salmonids % 96.4 1

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

AFZ, 2011; Migdal et al., 1991

Last updated on 28/11/2012 22:35:25

References
References 
Datasheet citation 

DATASHEET UNDER CONSTRUCTION. DO NOT QUOTE. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/205 Last updated on September 5, 2012, 15:56

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