Efecto de la suplementación del ácido docosahexaenoico (DHA) sobre el marmoleado en la canal en cuyes genotipo mejorado

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation on productive parameters and the impact on carcass marbling in improved genotype guinea pigs. For this purpose, a total of 72 female guinea pigs of 25 days of age, with an average initial weight of 450 g ± 30 g at the beginning of the experiment, were used. They were distributed in three different treatments, with three replicates (8 guinea pigs per replicate), T0 (without DHA), T1 (0.5% DHA), and T2 (1% DHA); they were subjected to an adaptation period of 15 days; the study lasted approximately 13 weeks. The variables evaluated included productive parameters (weight, feed intake, and feed conversion) and the percentage of fat infiltration in the Supraspinatus and Biceps Femoris muscles. The results of the productive parameters did not show significant differences (p<0.05) between treatments; as for total feed consumption, T0 reached an average consumption of 512.72 g DM/week/quy. T0 recorded the highest weight gain with an average weight of 105.38 g/cuy. The accumulated feed conversion was recorded in T0 (5.84), T1 (6.07), and T2 (5.82). Concerning fatty infiltration, there was no high adipocyte content among the muscle fibers evaluated; few adipocytes were observed in the treatments that included DHA (T1 0.5% and T2 1%); the infiltration was null in T0. It was concluded that the addition of DHA did not impact productive parameters and marbling.

Keywords: Docosahexaenoic acid, production parameters, marbling, guinea pigs, diet, treatments.