Fatty acid diets* Mothers (n) LA diet (12) ALA diet (6) LC-n3 PUFA diet (6) Source and amount of fatty acids Safflower seed oil and palm oil in the ratio of 4.5:5.5 that provided about 4 g LA and 0.14 g of ALA/ 100 g of diet with a n-6/n3 PUFA ratio of 28 Groundnut oil, palm oil and linseed oil in 3:3:4 ratio provided 3.02 g LA and 1.19 g ALA/ 100 g with a n-6/n3 PUFA ratio of 2.5. Groundnut oil, palm oil and fish oil (4:5:1) provided 3.79 g LA, 0.15 g ALA and 0.2 g LC n-3 PUFA/ 100 g diet with n-6/n-3 ratio of 11 Duration 90 days Mating Two females + one male** Pregnancy & lactation LA-enriched diet ALA diet LC-n3 PUFA diet Male pups (post weaning) (n) LA diet (7) ALA diet (7) LC-n3 PUFA diet (7) ALA diet (7) LC-n3 PUFA diet (7) Duration 105 days *Female rats received a diet that is similar to that of males wherein the fat source was replaced with respective oil blends. **Male rats received a cereal-pulse based stock colony diet that contains 50% roasted chickpea, 22.5% wheat, 5% groundnut oil, 6% starch, 4% casein, 7% milk powder, 4% AIN-93 salt mixture, 0.5% AIN-93 vitamin mixture and 1% cellulose.

Table 1: Feeding protocol of different groups of mothers and offspring and the amount of fatty acids added to diet along with source of these fatty acids.