| Summary: | There were two objectives of the present study using dietary fish oil (FO) in pigs: to use pigs as a model for studying the effects of high FO doses on selected physiological markers; and to evaluate the physical traits and nutritive value of pork enriched with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids n-3. Two groups of six female pigs were fed for 30 days with either a standard feed mixture (control, C) or the same mixture supplemented with 8% FO (F). Physical characteristics of the muscle, fatty acid deposition in tissues and selected hematologic and plasma markers were tested. The daily weight gain of the F-pigs was lower in comparison with controls (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Dietary fish oil decreased Warner-Bratzler shear force of the longissimus muscle (<i>p</i> < 0.01). The eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid content was higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in all tested F-tissues. Dietary fish oil had no effect on plasma cholesterol (<i>p</i> < 0.05), but it increased plasma triacylglycerol levels by 260% (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and increased counts of leukocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils in the blood plasma (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In conclusion, high dietary FO improved the texture and nutritive value of meat, but negatively affected plasma biochemical parameters.
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