No abstract

No abstract

Supplies of marine fish oils (FO) are limited and continued growth in aquaculture production dictates that substitutes must be found that do not compromise fish health and product quality. In this study the suitability of crude palm oil (PO) as a replacement for FO in diets of Atlantic salmon was investigated. Duplicate groups of Atlantic salmon post-smolts were fed four practical-type diets in which the added lipid was either 100% FO and 0% crude PO (0% PO); 75% FO and 25% PO (25% PO); 50% FO and 50% PO (50% PO); and 100% PO, for 30 wk. There were no effects of diet on growth rate or feed conversion ratio nor were any histopathological lesions found in liver, heart or muscle. Lipid deposition was greatest in fish fed 0% PO and was significantly greater than in fish fed 50% and 100% PO. Fatty acid compositions of muscle total lipid were correlated with dietary PO inclusion such that the concentrations of 16:0, 18:1(n-9), 18:2(n-6), total saturated fatty acids and total monoenoic fatty acids increased linearly with increasing dietary PO. The concentration of eicosapentaenoic acid [20:5(n-3)] was reduced significantly with increasing levels of dietary PO but the concentration of docosahexaenoic acid [22:6(n-3)] was significantly reduced only in fish fed 100% PO, compared with the other three treatments. Similar diet-induced changes were seen in liver total lipid fatty acid compositions. Hepatic fatty acid desaturation and elongation activities were approximately 10-fold greater in fish fed 100% PO than in those fed 0% PO. This study suggests that PO can be used successfully as a substitute for FO in the culture of Atlantic salmon in sea water. However, at levels of PO inclusion above 50% of dietary lipid, significant reductions in muscle 20:5(n-3), 22:6(n-3) and the (n-3):(n-6) PUFA ratio occur, resulting in reduced availability of these essential (n-3) highly unsaturated fatty acids to the consumer.

No abstract

Atlantic salmon postsmolts were fed a control diet or one of 9 experimental diets containing various blends of two vegetable oils, linseed (LO) and rapeseed oil (RO), and fish oil (FO) in a triangular trial design, for 50 wk. After sampling, fish previously fed 100% FO, LO and RO were switched to a diet containing 100% FO for a further 20 wk. Fatty acid compositions of flesh total lipid were linearly correlated with dietary fatty acid compositions (r = 0.99-1.00, P < 0.0001). Inclusion of vegetable oil at 33% of total oil significantly reduced the concentrations of the highly unsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoate [20:5(n-3)] and docosahexaenoate [22:6(n-3)], to approximately 70 and 75%, respectively, of the values in fish fed 100% FO. When vegetable oil was included at 100% of total dietary lipid, the concentrations of 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-3) were significantly reduced to approximately 30 and 36%, respectively, of the values in fish fed FO. Transfer of fish previously fed 100% vegetable oil to a 100% FO diet for 20 wk restored the concentrations of 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-3) to approximately 80% of the value in fish fed 100% FO for 70 wk, although the values were still significantly lower. However, in fish previously fed either 100% LO or RO, concentrations of 18:2(n-6) remained approximately 50% higher than in fish fed 100% FO. This study suggests that RO and LO can be used successfully to culture salmon through the seawater phase of their growth cycle; this will result in reductions in flesh 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-3) concentrations that can be partially restored by feeding a diet containing only marine FO for a period before harvest.