Effect of dietary vitamin E content on the CLA, cholesterol and triglycerides composition of Italian Mediterranean buffalo meat

The composition of fatty acids, CLA, triglycerides and cholesterol in intramuscular fat depots of buffalo meat was determined using high-resolution gas chromatography to investigate the influence of dietary vitamin E content. Three groups of Italian Mediterranean buffalo calves were fed on three diets with high (H), low (L) and zero (Z) vitamin E contents. The animal were slaughtered at 15 months and three muscles were dissected on the half-carcass: Longissimus dorsi (LD), Tricipitis brachii (TB) and Semimembranosus (Sm). Lipid extracts from muscles (g/100g f.m.: 0.82 for LD, 0.66 for TB and 0.48 for Sm) were used to quantify the amount (mg/100g of lipids) of fatty acids, total conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and cholesterol. The effects of dietary vitamin E content were significant (P