- ,, ARCHIVES FISHERIES AND MARINE SERVICE Translation Series No. 3832 Distribution and metabolism of odd-numbered fatty acids in domestic animals and poultry - A review by Haruhisa Ikumo and Minoru Yoshida Original titl.e: Kachiku. Kakin ni okeru Kisu-Shibosan no Bumpu to sono Taisha From: Nihon Kakin Gakkai-Shi 12(4): 155-166, 1975 Translated by the Translation Bureau( FRF ) Multilingual Services Division Department of the Secretary of State of Canada Department of the Environment Fisheries and Marine Service Halifax Laboratory Halifax, N.S. 1976 35 pages typescript DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE SECRÉTARIAT D'ÉTAT TRANSLATION BUREAU BUREAU DES TRADUCTIONS MULTILINGUAL SERVICES DIVISION DES SERVICES CANADA DIVISION MULTILINGUES TRANSLATED FROM — TRADUCTION DE INTO — EN Japanese English AUTHOR — AUTEUR Haruhisa IKUMO and Minoru YOSHIDA TITLE IN ENGLISH — TITRE ANGLAIS Distribution and Metabolism of Odd-Numbered Fatty Acids in Domestic Animals and Poultry - A Review. TITLE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TRANSLITERATE FOREIGN CHARACTERS) TITRE EN LANGUE ÉTRANGÉRE (TRANSCRIRE EN CARACTLRES ROMAINS) Kachiku.Kakin ni okéru Kisu-Shibosan no Bumpu to sono Taisha REFERENCE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE (NAME OF BOOK OR PUBLICATION) IN FULL. TRANSLITERATE FOREIGN CHARACTERS. RÉFÉRENCE EN LANGUE ÉTRANGÉRE (NOM DU 'LIVRE OU PUBLICATION), AU COMPLET, TRANSCRIRE EN CARACTàRES ROMAINS. Nihon Kakin Gakkai Shi REFERENCE IN ENGLISH — RÉFÉRENCE EN ANGLAIS Journal of Japan Poultry Science PUBLISHER— ÉDITEUR PAGE NUMBERS IN ORIGINAL DATE OF PUBLICATION NUMÉROS DES PAGES DANS DATE DE PUBLICATION L'ORIGINAL 155-166 YEAR ISSUE NO. VOLUME PLACE OF PUBLICATION ANNÉE NUMÉRD NUMBER OF TYPED PAGES LIEU DE PUBLICATION NOMBRE DE PAGES Japan 12 4 DACTYLOGRAPHIÉES 1975 35 REQUESTING DEPARTMENT TRANSLATION BUREAU NO. Environment 1101468 MINISTÈRE-CLIENT NOTRE DOSSIER N 0 Office of the Editor FRF BRANCH OR DIVISION TRANSLATOR (INITIALS) DIRECTION OU DIVISION TRADUCTEUR (INITIALES) PERSON REQUESTING Allan T. Reid DEMANDÉ PAR OCT 19 1V8 YOUR NUMF3ER VOTRE DOSSIER NO UNEDITED for ird,:qr.. 11 DATE OF - REQUEST •TRADUCT!0(\', M(2:1,1 DATE DE LA DEMANDE 9.7_6 SO5..200-10.6 (rq V. 2/0e) 7530-Z1-02 6 -0333 III R -1- I '. D[P.•.RII'MENT OF TIIE SE=CRE.TARY or STATE SEC I21 TARIATD'É1A1' 1Y e.'^Lk:, TRANSLATION BUREAU ( f s^.i ^•^ BUREAU DES TRADUCTIONS MULTILINGUAL SERVICES t^ • •, _ ^ ,,^ DIVISION DES SERVICES tir3C...:t. DIVISION CANADA MULTILINGUES '-- --'-------'--'- '.. .-----`-_.-_°"--"-'- -^-•^----CLIEN I'S NO, DEPARTMENT - - ^ DIVISION/HRl.IICH y CITY NO DU CLIENT MINISTERE 1 DIVISION/DIRECTION VILLE 1101468 Environment Office of the Editor Ottawa ^ ^- DUREAU NO. -----`-LANGUAGE -^--------- TRANSLATOR(INITIALS) NO DU BUREAU LANGUE TRADUCTEUR (INITIALES) 110146ti Japanese FRF OGTig1976 DISTRIBUTION AND METABOLISM OF ODD- 155 NUMBERED FATTY ACIDS IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND POULTRY - A REVIEW by Haruhisa_Ikumo and Minoru Yoshi.da* 1. INTRODUCTION Odd-numbered fatty acids, which contain an odd number of carbons, are widely distributed in the bodies of animals and plants. The odd-numbered fatty acid content is especially high in microorganisms, sometimes in excess of 50% of the fatty acids being odd-nùmbered fatty acids (1). Microorganism protein is being considered for prospective proteinaceous feeds, but here, too, fnicroorganism protein contains considerable amounts of odd-numbered fatty acids. For example, it has been reported that in hydrocarbon yeasts grown on n-paraffins, 1/3 to of the fatty acids are odd-numbered fatty acids (2). A portion of this can be considered to be produced from the * National. Institute of Animal Industry, Chiba City, Japan. UNCKIM UhW<t. AVON ^'ôi it,k^.'t'^^`^^,!•iüï: t:r?^^! 1"' Lj^^C j 4 'nî•••,4, ^. S ;^, •' r,l ^^y1^'ht'fÎlY^ii^",(T t }+ti^1 ^C 1^Â -2- oxidation of the odd-numbered n-paraffin raw material, but another portion is probably biosynthesized by the yeast itself. Moreover, even in microorganisms which feed on sources of carbon other than n-paraffins, the odd-numbered fatty acid content appears to be appreciable. Even-numbered fatty acids, which contain an even number of carbons, comprise the major portion of the fatty acids found in nature. It was formerly believed that all natural fatty acids were even-numbered fatty acids, and that, with the exception of the lower acids such as propionic acid (03*) and valeric acid (C5), odd-numbered fatty acids did not occur in nature. It has even been commented that the odd-numbered fatty acids reportedly contained in natural products are probably two types of even-numbered fatty acid equivalent compounds in which the number of carbons varies by 1. With this background in mind, the eating of livestock products produced through the use of feeds made from micro- organism protein, which is relatively abundant in odd-numbered fatty acids, indirectly is equivalent to humans eating these odd-numbered fatty acids in microorganisms; since this is highly unnatural, the concern arises as to whether or not there might be some adverse effects involved. As has already been reported (3-16), hydrocarbon yeasts make a good source of protein for poultry feeds. Since they contain odd-numbered fatty acids it is concluded that, from the viewpoint of their use as feeds to produce meat and eggs ■ .1••■••■•■•••••■•••••••••••••••■•••.••••■ •••••••••■•••■■••••••••••••■••••••••••••• * Fatty acids containing 3 carbons are designated as C3 (refer to main text). • -3- of good quality, they cannot be said to contain objectionable factors. Since both the energy of the yeast itself (4) and the energy of the lipids extracted from the yeast (2,6) are alike well utilized, the odd-numbered fatty acids in hydro- carbon yeasts are well utilized as energy, and are confirmed to have no harmful effects towards chickens. Nevertheless, the widespread recognition that odd-numbered fatty acids are unnatural substances is one reason for the fear that the human body might be adversely affected by feeds made from microorganism proteins. Accordingly, it should be instruct- ive to present a summary of the most recent research results concerning the actual state of odd-numbered fatty acids in the bodies of animals, such as, for example, their distribution, content, composition, and decomposition processes in the living body, and to touch upon the development of feeds from micro- organism proteins, as well as investigations of the possibility of utilizing odd-numbered fatty acids as an energy source in feeds. Taking domestic animal and poultry feeds as the point of departure, the object of this review is to focus on fowl and mammals as well as on their products. The paper does not deal with the wealth of knowledge obtained from the results of research on microorganisms and fish. Fatty acids, which contain a carboxyl group at the end of the carbon chain, are generally indicated by the following structural formula, which shows a saturated n-fatty acid: CH3-(CH2) n-COOH sometimes expressed as R-COOH. Additional types of fatty acids include unsaturated acids, in -4-- which two k hydrogens have been removed and the adjoining carbons form a double bond; oxy-acids, in which one of the hydrogens is replaced with the hydroxyl group (-OH); as well as branched side chain acids in which the carbon chain is not linear. In this report, following the example of propionic acid, the number of carbons contained in the fatty acid is used as its abbreviated name. For example, a saturated fatty acid containing 15 carbons is indicated by C15 or 15:0. For an unsaturated fatty acid, the number of double bonds is included along with the number of carbons, e.g. 15:1. A fatty acid containing a side chain is expressed vither simply as br-C 15 , or in a manner showing the number of the branch-point carbon, such as 13-Me-C 14 (signifying a fatty acid which contains a methyl (Me) side chain on the 13th carbon, for a total of 15 carbons). 2. DISTRIBUTION OF ODD-NUMBERED FATTY ACIDS IN 158 THE BODIES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND POULTRY The presence of straight-chained odd-numbered fatty acids with more than 10 carbons in the body lipids of domestic animals was first confirmed by Hansen et al (17). However, prior to that, Weitkamp and co-workers (15), who methylated the free fatty acids in human hair and then applied fractional distillation, reported the presence of C7-C17 fatty acids. Hansen et al, after isolating C1 5 fatty acids containing a methyl side chain (12-Me-C 14 and 13-Me-C 14 ) from hydrogenated mutton tallow (19), reported the isolation of C 17 fatty acids. The lipid was hydrolyzed, methylated, fractionally distilled under reduced pressure, and crystallized. From melting points, measurement of saponification values, x-ray diffraction, elemental -S- analysis, etc. they established that it was an odd-numbered fatty acid and not an equivalent mixture of two kinds of even- numbered fatty acids. With the establishment of gas chromatography techniques, research on the distribution of fatty acids in living bodies rapidly progressed. Even in Japan, it was at once applied to the analysis of the fatty acid composition of butter and cheese (20). The distribution of straight-chained fatty acids in the bodies of domestic animals and poultry, as well as in their products, is summarized in Table 1. This table, which is roughly classified according to body lipids, meat, milk, phospho- lipids, glycolipids, brain lipids, and oxy-acids, also indicates the proportions of odd-numbered fatty acids contained in the total fatty acids, and is intended as an aid in understanding the gist of the distribution of odd-numbered fatty acids. Odd-numbered fatty acids were first confirmed to be released from the body lipids of ruminating domestic animals, but their existence also has been observed in humans and chickens. Odd-numbered fatty acids also have been observed to be widely distributed in the meat and milk of various animals; they have also been detected in human milk.