Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were hypothesized to promote the breeding performance of carp (Cyprinus carpio). The effects of different dietary PUFAs supplements were investigated on the breeding performance of brood female carps. The carps were fed for a period of 90 days using five different diets with three repeats each diet: (i) Control diet (control) contained only basic ingredients; (ii) fish oil diet (FO) contained added fish oil (rich in n‐3 HUFAs); (iii) perilla oil diet (PO) contained added perilla oil (rich in n‐3 PUFAs); (iv) safflower oil diet (SO) contained added safflower oil (rich in n‐6 PUFAs); (v) safflower‐fish oil diet (SO + FO) contained added a mixture of safflower and fish oils (rich in both n‐6 and n‐3 HUFAs). The results showed that nutritional quality of the diet considerably influenced breeding performance in the carp. The number of matured female carps was the highest in SO + FO (fully bred 100 ± 0.00%), the second in FO (fully bred 80.00 ± 1.81%), the third in SO (fully bred 78.00 ± 2.25%), the fourth in PO (fully bred 76.00 ± 3.08%), and the lowest in control (fully bred 60.00 ± 1.23%). The relative fecundity was significantly increased in SO + FO, FO, SO, and PO as compared to control (p < 0.05). The maximum fertilization was 73.40 ± 3.02% in SO + FO, followed by 65.30 ± 4.16, 59.00 ± 7.90, 56.80 ± 2.04, and 56.30 ± 5.18% in FO, SO, PO, and control, respectively. Conclusions were drawn that dietary supplementation of both n‐6 and n‐3 PUFAs is essential to improve gonadal maturation, breeding performance, and spawn recovery in the female carp's brood‐stock; a suitable ratio of supplementing n‐6 and n‐3 PUFAs is necessary in brood‐stock diets.
Practical applications: The breeding performance of brood female fish is very important for aquaculture. Dietary n‐3 and n‐6 PUFAs can improve brood‐stock performance. A sufficient supply of n‐6 and n‐3 PUFAs is vital and available to brood‐stock during embryogenesis and larval development, proliferation, and differentiation of cells. However, n‐6 and n‐3 PUFAs have to be supplied in the diet of fish, either as AA, EPA, and DHA, or as their precursors, such as linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n‐6, precursor of AA) and α‐linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n‐3, precursor of EPA and DHA) since they cannot be synthesized in vivo by most metazoans. The present work explores to promote the breeding performance of carp using PUFA supplements. The results show that PUFA supplements could considerably promote the breeding performance of carp.
The dietary supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) could considerably promote the breeding performance of carp (Cyprinus carpio) as shown in Figure.