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The main goal of this study was to test a rational combination of pre‐selected carbohydrate‐active enzymes (CAZymes) and sulphatases, individually or in combination, in order to evaluate its capacity to disrupt Arthrospira platensis cell wall, allowing the release of its valuable nutritional bioactive compounds. By the end, a two‐enzyme constituted mixture (Mix), composed by a lysozyme and a α‐amylase, was incubated with A. platensis suspension. The microalga cell wall disruption was evaluated through the amount of reducing sugars released from the cell wall complemented with the oligosaccharide profile by HPLC. An increase of the amount of reducing sugars up to 2.42 g/L in microalgae treated with the Mix relative to no treatment (p <.05), as well as a 7‐fold increase of oligosaccharides amount (p <.001), were obtained. With resort of fluorescence microscopy, a 36% reduction of fluorescence intensity (p <.001) was observed using Calcofluor White staining. In the supernatant, the Mix caused a 1.34‐fold increase in protein content (p =.018) relative to the control. Similarly, n‐6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (p =.007), in particular 18:2n‐6 (p =.016), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (p =.049) and chlorophyll a (p =.025) contents were higher in the supernatant of microalgae treated with the enzyme mixture in relation to the control. Taken together, these results point towards the disclosure of a novel two‐enzyme mixture able to partial degrade A. platensis cell wall, improving its nutrients bioavailability for monogastric diets with the cost‐effective advantage use of microalgae in animal feed industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We hypothesised that the incorporation of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) across adipose tissues will be higher when it is ingested as triacylglycerols (TAG) structured at the sn-2 position. Ten-week old male hamsters were allocated to 4 dietary treatments (n = 10): linseed oil (LSO-control group), fish oil (FO), fish oil ethyl esters (FO-EE) and structured DHA at the sn-2 position of TAG (DHA-SL) during 12 weeks. In opposition to the large variations found for fatty acid composition in retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (WAT), brown adipose tissue (BAT) was less responsive to diets. DHA was not found in subcutaneous and retroperitoneal WAT depots but it was successfully incorporated in BAT reaching the highest percentage in DHA-SL. The PCA on plasma hormones (insulin, leptin, adiponectin) and fatty acids discriminated BAT from WATs pointing towards an individual signature on fatty acid deposition, but did not allow for full discrimination of dietary treatments within each adipose tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The individual and combined effects of betaine and arginine supplemented to reduced protein diets were investigated on plasma metabolites, hepatic fatty acid composition and mRNA levels of lipid-sensitive factors in commercial pigs. Betaine has previously been shown to reduce carcass fat deposition and arginine improves meat quality of finishing pigs. Forty male crossbred pigs were randomly assigned to one of five diets ( n = 8): 160 g kg−1 of crude protein (NPD), 130 g kg−1 of crude protein (RPD), RPD with 3.3 g kg−1 of betaine, RPD with 15 g kg−1 of arginine, and RPD with 3.3 g kg−1 of betaine and 15 g kg−1 of arginine. RESULTS The restriction of dietary protein increased total lipids ( P < 0.001), total cholesterol ( P < 0.001), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ( P < 0.001) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( P < 0.001). Betaine and arginine, individually or combined, reduced the majority of plasma lipids ( P < 0.05) without affecting total fatty acids in the liver and the overall gene expression pattern. CONCLUSION These findings suggest a positive effect of betaine and arginine, singly or combined, by reversing plasma lipids increase promoted by dietary protein restriction. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, it was hypothesized that the incorporation of fatty acids is distinct among ruminant tissues and that it could be modulated by diet composition. To test this hypothesis, fatty acid composition, including conjugated linoleic acid isomers, of the most relevant beef by-products (brain, heart, kidney, liver, pancreas and tongue) from young bulls those fed distinct silage levels was assessed. Data indicated a large variation in fatty acid profile and conjugated linoleic acid composition among edible by-products. The most abundant fatty acids were C16:0 (kidney), C18:0 (heart and liver) and C18:1c9 (brain, pancreas and tongue) followed by C20:4n-6, except in brain (C22:6n-3 predominates). Brain, as shown by principal component analysis, presents a distinct fatty acid composition compared to the other beef by-products analysed. In addition, high silage diet relative to low silage diet promoted an increase of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, t11,t13 and t11,c13 conjugated linoleic acid in heart, kidney, liver and pancreas. Overall, the data suggested that beef by-products had, in general, high contents of cholesterol, saturated fatty acid and trans fatty acid, as well as high levels of conjugated linoleic acid. Therefore, from a nutritional point of view they are recommended only in small amounts as part of a balanced diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]