Monogastrics – effect of dietary saturated and unsaturated fatty acids

For practical purposes, a minimum unsaturated (USFA) : saturated (SFA) fatty acid ratio for young animal feeds in the range of 2.25-2.50 should be maintained, while for older animals the ratio can be 2.0-2.25 to ensure adequate fat digestion. These ratios exclude the SFA less than C16:0 and the long chain poly-USFA which are highly digestible.