Aldehydes are key for assessing dietary lipid oxidation and subsequent effects on pig growth performance

Authors: Kerr, Brian; HUNG, YUAN-TAI - University Of Minnesota; CHEN, CHI - University Of Minnesota; SHURSON, GERALD - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Literature Review
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/2025
Publication Date: 1/9/2026
Citation: Kerr, B.J., Hung, Y., Chen, C., Shurson, G.C. 2026. Aldehydes are key for assessing dietary lipid oxidation and subsequent effects on pig growth performance. Journal of Animal Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf407.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf407

Interpretive Summary: Fats and oils are an important source of energy in swine feed formulations because they provide a concentrated source of energy compared to other commonly used feedstuffs in livestock feeds. High temperatures used during the processing of fats and oils can, however, result in the formation of lipid oxidation products which when consumed by the animal can reduce animal growth. The experiments reviewed herein evaluated the effect of feeding thermally processed fats and oils on body weight gain, feed intake, and efficiency of feed utilization in growing pigs. The data reviewed indicates that the presence of lipid oxidation products caused by heating fats and oils results in reduced growth rate, feed intake, and the efficiency of feed utilization in growing pigs, and that the quantification of these compounds can be used to estimate relative animal performance. This information is important for nutritionists at universities, feed companies, and pig production facilities for the determination of the impact of feeding thermally processed fats and oils on pig performance thereby providing a basis from which to assess their economic value.

Technical Abstract: Understanding the relationships among predictive and indicative measures of lipid oxidation products (LOP) with pig performance is an inherently difficult task. Not only is pig growth a complex biochemical and physiological process, but lipid oxidation is also a complex and dynamic process in itself which produces and degrades numerous lipid oxidation products. Accurately assessing lipid oxidation is important to optimize caloric efficiency in swine feeds. Past experiments and reviews of scientific literature have indicated that peroxide value (PV), anisidine value (AnV), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) do not adequately characterize lipid oxidation as single indicators of lipid oxidation to accurately predict pig growth performance. Furthermore, the fatty acid profile of lipids determines their potential to be oxidized, the extent of oxidation, and the types and amounts of LOP that can subsequently result in reduced pig growth performance. A review of 16 publications representing 21 experiments indicated that lipids (e.g., lard, palm oil, tallow) which contain high concentrations of saturated fatty acids are not easily oxidized and resulted in no associations between LOP and pig performance (average daily gain, ADG; average daily feed intake, ADFI; gain:feed, GF). In contrast, lipids (e.g., canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil) that contain high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids can be readily oxidized to contain substantial amounts of LOP, which can then be negatively correlated to measures of pig growth performance. Although correlations do not infer causation, using data for unsaturated lipids resulted in consistent and significant correlations between LOP and pig performance whereupon the combination of primary (PV) and secondary (AnV) measures could be used to predict reductions in pig performance with a moderate degree of accuracy. Using regression analysis, estimates of relative performance (using 100% for response of control animals) were: ADG = 100.2 – (0.37 × PV) – (0.88 × AnV); P = 0.01, SD = 68, R2 = 0.72; ADFI = 99.6 – (0.28 × PV) – (0.52 × AnV); P = 0.01, SD = 47, R2 = 0.57; GF = 100.9 – (0.10 × PV) – (0.46 × AnV); P = 0.01, SD = 20, R2 = 0.69]. Using a targeted analysis of specific aldehydes in oxidized lipids, the specificity in characterizing the extent of oxidation improved for unsaturated lipids, but not saturated lipids, compared with using PV and AnV. Using stepwise regression analysis, four aldehydes (2-undecenal, 4-hydroxynonenal, 2,4-undecadienal, and pentanal) were most predictive of the reduction in ADG (P = 0.01, SD = 68, R2 = 0.77), five aldehydes (hexanal, 2-undecenal, 2,4-undecadienal, 2-heptenal, and 4-hydroxynonenal) were most predictive of the reduction in ADFI (P = 0.01, SD = 43, R2 = 0.68), and seven aldehydes (4-hydroxynonenal, 2-undecenal, 2,4-heptadienal, pentanal, hexanal, 2-decenal and 2-octenal) were most predictive of the reduction in GF (P = 0.01, SD = 13, R2 = 0.85). While the use of targeted aldehydes improved the accuracy of predicting growth performance reductions caused by consumption of oxidized unsaturated lipids in pigs, the improvement in prediction accuracy was minimal. In conclusion, these data indicate that feeding oxidized lipids can substantially reduce pig performance and that using either a combination of a primary (PV) and secondary (AnV) measures of LOP or combinations of several specific aldehydes can be used to reasonably estimate the negative impact of feeding oxidized lipids on pig growth performance.