A study was conducted to establish whether a particulate form of ascorbic acid (AA), ascorbyl‐2‐phosphate (A2P), could be used to enrich Artemia. In the first experiment, we examined the efficiency of A2P conversion to and maintenance of AA by juvenile Artemia (1.5 mm, 5‐day‐old) held at 9000 L−1 and 28 °C for 24 h. Maximal uptake and assimilation was >10 000 μg AA g−1 dry weight (dw) (representing >1%Artemia dw) at enrichment rates of ≥1.2 g A2P L−1. In the second experiment, a similar biomass of instar II/III nauplii (1 mm, 2‐day‐old) and juvenile (2.5 mm, 8‐day‐old) Artemia were enriched for 6 or 24 h at 28 °C before starvation for 6 or 24 h at 18 or 28 °C. At 0 h and after 6 and 24 h enrichment, AA levels were 485, 3468 and 11 080 μg g−1 dw in nauplii and 122, 4286 and 12 470 μg g−1 dw in juveniles. When Artemia nauplii or juveniles were enriched for 6 h and starved for 6 h at 18 or 28 °C, there was no significant reduction in AA. Continuation of starvation to 24 h at 18 and 28 °C reduced the level of AA to 3367 and 2482 μg g−1 dw in nauplii and 3068 and 2286 μg g−1 dw in juveniles. After 24 h enrichment, 6 h of starvation at 18 and 28 °C reduced AA to 8847 and 7899 μg g−1 dw in nauplii and to 9053 and 8199 μg g−1 dw in juveniles. Continuation of starvation to 24 h at 18 and 28 °C further reduced AA levels in nauplii to 6977 and 4078 μg g−1 dw and to 7583 and 5114 μg g−1 dw in juveniles. This study demonstrated that A2P could be assimilated as AA in the body tissue of different‐sized Artemia in a dose‐dependant manner and AA was depleted during starvation depending on time and temperature.