Sheep depot fat

FA distribution in TAG as well as in phospholipids affects the physical properties, lipolitic and oxidative stability, and nutritional availability of lipids. In many TAG, the FA are arranged in a nonrandom distribution. In plants, monoenoic FA and PUFA are dominant at a sn-2 position (Orthoefer, 1996). In pig depot fat and in cow s milk, the TAG sn-2 position is occupied by palmitic acid. The distribution is also different in cattle and sheep depot fats (Love, 1996). In blubber seals, long-chain n-3 PUFA are esterified rather in sn-l,3 positions, whereas, in muscle, TAG in the sn-2 position that is typical for the lipid muscles of nearly all fish (Ackman, 1994). Enzymatic syntheses of structured TAG containing dY-5,8,ll,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and dY-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the sn-2 position with medium-chain FA at the end positions are particularly interesting (Halldorsson... 

In contradistinction to the relatively high content of EFA in chicken and hog fat, the storage fat of beef cattle and of sheep represents only a minimum level of EFA. Although ox depot fat has been reported to have 5.3% of linoleate and 0.5% of arachidonate, Thomasson (1953), employing a bio-assay procedure, obtained a figure of only 1.5% for beef suet sheep depot fat has been reported to have 5% of linoleate, but this has not been confirmed by bio-assay. More precise data, which have been confirmed by bio-assay, are needed in the case of animal fats. 

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