KIFER. SMITH, and YOUNG: EFFECT OF DIETARY FISH OIL 



Table 21.— Panel test Trial II— weighted organoleptic 

 scores obtained with inner backfat of pigs fed various 

 levels of menhaden oil in the diet until the pigs attained 

 a body weight of 79.5 kg. 



Table 22. — Panel test Trial II — weighted organoleptic 

 scores obtained with inner backfat of pigs fed various 

 levels of menhaden oil in the diet until the pigs attained 

 a body weight of 68.0 kg. 



Table 23. — Correlation and polynomial regression anal- 

 yses of quantity of menhaden oil consumed (.Y) to 

 weighted organoleptic score {Y) when the oil was fed 

 until the pigs attained a body weight of 90.9, 79.5, or 

 68.0 kg. 



Oil fed 

 to 



Correlotion 

 coefficient 



Regression 



coefficient 



Standard 



error of 

 regression 



Lost degree of 



polynomial significant 



Degree 



Kg 

 90.9 

 79.S 

 68.0 



0.82" 

 .49 

 .21 



2.169 

 2.375 

 0.617 



0,371 

 1.325 

 0.967 



329.58" 

 3.21 

 0.41 



P <.01 



loss of the significant positive correlation be- 

 tween the variables, although the correlation 



coefficient obtained for die group weighing 

 79.5 kg approached significance. 



These results of organoleptic tests are in 

 agreement with reports of Miller et al. (1967), 

 which indicate that co3 family fatty acicds, when 

 fed and subsequently deposited, are positively 

 correlated with organoleptic scores obtained 

 with broiler flesh. The results are in partial 

 agreement with the hypothesis of Banks and 

 Hilditch (1932), who suggested that the fatty 

 acids of the C20-22 series are associated with an 

 off- (fishy) flavor. Both the results reported 

 here and those reported by Miller et al. (1967) 

 indicate that fatty acids of the coS family con- 

 taining 18 to 22 carbon atoms are positively cor- 

 related with the incidence and degree of off"- 

 flavor in pig or broiler flesh. These fatty acids 

 may be causal agents for the oflf-flavor, or they 

 may not be. In fact, they probably are the 

 precursors of the compound producing the off- 

 flavor. 



In these experiments, the inclusion of the men- 

 haden oil in the diet of the pigs resulted in no 

 physiological abnormalities other than the pro- 

 duction of off-flavor and an alteration in the pat- 

 tern of fatty acids in the tissues. This result 

 was not unexpected, because previous work at 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service Techno- 

 logical Laboratory at College Park had indi- 

 cated that levels of menhaden oil in excess of 

 10% of the diet are necessary to produce the 

 physiological abnormalities of e.Kudative diath- 

 esis and muscular dystrophy exiierimentally. 

 Adding various antioxidants (vitamin E, sele- 

 nium, and ethoxyquin) to the diet at compen- 

 satory levels prevented the development of these 

 abnormalities (exudative diathesis and muscu- 

 lar dystrophy) in chicks fed menhaden oil at 

 high concentrations (Miller, Leong, Knobl, and 

 Gruger, 1965). 



METABOLIC INTERACTIONS OF 



FATTY ACIDS OF THE OMEGA 



FAMILY ( (o3, u6, w9) 



Mohrhauer and Holman (1963a), Rahm and 

 Holman (1964), Tinsley (1964), and Lowry and 

 Tinsley (1966) have demonstrated that feeding 



297 



