The effect of dietary Echium oil supplementation on the fatty acid profile, omega-3 fatty acid content and subcutaneous fat quality of pork

•Pork is one of the most widely consumed meats, and increasing the omega-3 fatty acids of pork will increase omega-3 consumption without changing consumer behaviour.•Echium oil is rich in stearidonic acid (C18:4 n-3), which lies in a more advanced position than ALA in the n-3 biosynthetic pathway.•The Echium oil treatment had significantly higher levels of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than the linseed treatment.•Echium oil was unable to increase the long chain omega-3 fatty acids to the same levels as fish oil.•Both the Echium and linseed treatments had more favourable PUFA:SFA and n-6:n-3 ratios than the fish oil treatment. This study evaluated the effect of five dietary oils - palm (Control), soya, linseed, fish and Echium oil at a 1% inclusion level- on growth performance, feed efficiency, subcutaneous fat quality and fatty acid composition of subcutaneous fat. The trial consisted of 60 gilts, randomly allocated to ten groups with six animals per pen. Dietary treatment had no significant effect on growth performance, feed efficiency or lean meat content of pigs. All colour parameters, extractable fat content, fat free dry matter, and moisture content of subcutaneous fat were unaffected by dietary treatment. The only significant difference for fat firmness was between the control treatment containing palm oil (Bergafat HPL 106) and the linseed oil treatment (P = 0.049), with the control producing the hardest fat. The iodine value was significantly lower in the control treatment (P