Microwave pretreatment allows accurate fatty acid analysis of small fresh weight (100 g) dried alfalfa, ryegrass, and winter rye samples

摘要

Accurate analysis of forage fatty acid (FA) profile and content, particularly polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA), is vital for ongoing research optimizing the desired FA content of ruminant-derived foods. Lyophilization (i.e., freeze-drying) is regarded as the gold standard for preserving labile constituents, such as PUFA, in fresh forage samples. This method, however, is expensive, time consuming, and generally impractical for the large number and size of forage samples in agronomic studies.