Abstract
Re-esterified palm oils are obtained from the chemical esterification of palm acid oils (rich in free fatty acids) with glycerol, both economically interesting by-products from oil refining and biodiesel industries, respectively. Thus, re-esterified palm oils could be an economically interesting alternative to native palm oil in broiler chick diets. However, because they may have different physicochemical properties than have their corresponding native oil, we assessed the effect of fatty acid (FA) positional distribution within acylglycerol molecules and the effect of acylglycerol composition on FA apparent absorption, and their possible consequences on the evolution of postprandial lipemia and growth performance in broiler chicks. Seventy-two 1-day-old female broiler chicks were randomly distributed into 18 cages. The three treatments used were the result of a basal diet supplemented with 6 wt% of native palm oil (N-TAG), re-esterified palm oil (E-TAG), or re-esterified palm oil high in mono- and diacylglycerols (E-MDAG). Chemical esterification raised the fraction of palmitic acid at the sn-2 position from 9.63 mol% in N-TAG oil to 17.9 mol% in E-TAG oil. Furthermore, E-MDAG oil presented a high proportion of mono- (23.1 wt%) and diacylglycerols (51.2 wt%), with FA mainly located at the sn-1,3 positions, which resulted in a lower gross-energy content and an increased solid-fat index at the chicken's body temperature. However, re-esterified palm oils did not alter fat absorption, postprandial lipemia, or growth performance, compared to native palm oil, so they can be used as alternative fat sources in broiler chick diets.