Conjugated linoleic acid as functional food in poultry products: A review

ABSTRACT

The conjugated linoleic acid is one of the many lipid molecules that had proven to be beneficial to the human health. Conjugated linoleic acid is reported to have anticancer and anti-diabetic properties, as well as exhibiting marked effects on the body composition. Conjugated linoleic acid is a term used to describe positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid (C18:2n-6; LA). The two main isomers are cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12. The mechanism by which dietary conjugated linoleic acids impart their reported effects involved the regulation of lipid mediator synthesis, and/or transcriptional regulation of gene expression through peroxisome proliferator activated receptors. Chicken has been considered as an appropriate model for nutritional research since they are highly sensitive to dietary manipulation. Therefore, the dietary inclusion of conjugated linoleic acids in poultry diets would be of great advantage to consumers since chicken meat is low in fat and cholesterol. In addition, through the consumption of conjugated linoleic acid-enriched meat and egg products, the human population would have gained conjugated linoleic acids that are crucial for health and well-being. This review attempts to provide an overview of the available data on conjugated linoleic acids in poultry meat, products originating from different poultry species, as well as the observable inclusion effects of conjugated linoleic acids in poultry.

KEYWORDS:

• Conjugated linoleic acid
• Functional food
• Poultry meat
• Poultry products
• Human

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Institute of Tropical Agriculture. The authors declare that they have no competing interest. Suriya Kumari drafted the manuscript. Mehdi Ebrahimii revised the manuscript. Goh Yong Meng supervised the whole study and was the main reviser. All authors read and approved the final manuscripts.

Funding

This research was supported by the Malaysian Government Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) under grant number 5450632.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Malaysian Government Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) under grant number 5450632.