Vegetable oil blends with α-linolenic acid rich Garden cress oil modulate lipid metabolism in experimental rats

► Garden cress oil (GCO) is rich in α-linoleic acid (ALA). ► Sunflower, rice bran and sesame oils were blended with GCO to increase ALA content. ► Feeding of GCO blended oils modulated total cholesterol, triglycerols, LDL-C in rats. ► GCO blended oils beneficially modulates fatty acid and lipid metabolism in rats. Vegetable oil blends with modified fatty acid profile are being developed to improve n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) ratio in edible oils. The objective of this study is to develop vegetable oil blends with α-linolenic acid (ALA) rich Garden cress oil (GCO) and assess their modulatory effect on lipid metabolism. Sunflower oil (SFO), Rice bran oil (RBO), Sesame oil (SESO) were blended with GCO at different ratios to obtain n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio of 2.3–2.6. Native and GCO blended oils were fed to Wistar rats at 10% level in the diet for 60days. Serum and liver lipids showed significant decrease in Total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), LDL-C levels in GCO and GCO blended oil fed rats compared to native oil fed rats. ALA, EPA, DHA contents were significantly increased while linoleic acid (LA), arachidonic acid (AA) levels decreased in different tissues of GCO and GCO blended oils fed rats. In conclusion, blending of vegetable oils with GCO increases ALA, decreases n-6 to n-3 PUFA ratio and beneficially modulates lipid profile.