Dietary Soybean Oil, but Not Krabok Oil, Diminishes Abdominal Fat Deposition in Broiler Chickens

In broiler chickens we tested the hypothesis that dietary fats rich in medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCT) would diminish abdominal fat deposition as do fats rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Broiler chickens were fed on diets containing either tallow, which is rich in Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA), soybean oil, which is rich in PUFA, or krabok oil, which is rich in MCT. Krabok oil was isolated from the seeds of a tree (Irvingia malayana) grown widely in tropical and subtropical areas. Growth performance was not significantly affected by the type of dietary fat. Possibly, the production of krabok oil for use in broiler rations may become economically relevant. The diets containing either soybean oil or krabok oil showed a significantly higher apparent fat digestibility than did the diet containing tallow. In keeping with earlier investigations, dietary soybean oil versus tallow significantly lowered abdominal fat deposition, the lowering being 21%. The feeding of krabok oil instead of tallow did not affect the weight of abdominal fat, which would lead to rejection of our hypothesis.