ASSESSMENT OF THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND FATTY ACID CHARACTERISTICS OF HORSE FAT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NUTRITIONAL VALUE

The nutritional and biological value of animal fats directly depends on their anatomical location, physicochemical properties, and fatty acid composition. Currently, in the development of functional food products, the effective use of natural lipid raw materials with high biological activity is one of the important scientific directions. In this context, horse fat attracts scientific interest not only as a traditional food resource but also as a promising functional ingredient.

In this study, the physicochemical and fatty acid properties of horse internal fat, visceral fat (kazy), and subcutaneous fat (zhaya) were comparatively investigated. During the research, the acid value, peroxide value, and iodine value, the mass fraction of moisture and volatile substances, as well as the composition of the main fatty acids were determined. The experimental results revealed significant differences among the fat samples in terms of oxidative stability, the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, and quality indicators. In particular, it was established that the subcutaneous fat contains a higher level of unsaturated fatty acids, which confirms its high nutritional and biological value.

The obtained data substantiate the possibility of the targeted use of different anatomical types of horse fat in food products. In addition, the research findings establish scientific prerequisites for the effective application of horse fat in the development of formulations for functional, traditional, and composite food products and provide a basis for expanding the range of high-quality fat-based products in the domestic food industry.

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