The effect of feeding with hemp and Camelina cakes on the fatty acid profile of duck muscles

Camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz) and hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) seed cakes are rich sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Camelina and hempseed cakes in the diet of ducks on the intramuscular fatty acid profile. Male ducks (n = 99) were randomly allocated to 3 dietary treatments: Control or C group (wheat-soybean-meal-barley-based diet with 15-20 % rapeseed cake), Experimental 1 or HEM group (with hempseed cake added at 15-20 % instead of rapeseed cake), and Experimental 2 or CAM group (with Camelina cake added at 15-20 % instead of rapeseed cake). All groups received the diets ad libitum. At 49 days of age, six ducks from each group were slaughtered for analysis of the fatty acid composition in the breast and leg muscles. Feeding ducks with the diet enriched with Camelina cake resulted in significantly higher amounts of n-3 alpha-linolenic fatty acid (ALA) (P <= 0.01) and total n-3 PUFA (P <= 0.01) in breast and leg muscles, while eicosatrienoic fatty acid (ETE) (P <= 0.01) was higher in the leg muscle. The ratios of n-6 / n-3 and linoleic/alpha-linolenic fatty acids (P <= 0.01) decreased significantly compared to the Control and HEM groups of ducks. Feeding ducks with the diet enriched with hempseed cake resulted in significantly higher amounts of linoleic (LA) (P <= 0.01), total n-6 PUFA (P <= 0.05-P <= 0.01) and n-6 gamma-linolenic (GLA) (P <= 0.01) fatty acid. Our study showed that using Camelina cake as supplementation in duck diets opens a possibility to develop functional food, i.e. meat with a significantly higher content of ALA, total n-3 PUFA and the lowest ratios of n-6 / n-3 fatty acids in ducks' muscles. A duck diet with hempseed cake produces exceptional-quality meat with an enriched content of n-6 GLA.