Dietary phosphatidylcholine requirements in larval and postlarval Penaeus japonicus Bate

Abstract

Three nutritional experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of dietary phosphatidylcholine (PC) on the growth (length, weight and metamorphosis) and survival (rearing and stress) of larval and postlarval Penaeus japonicus Bate. Purified soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC, 95% purity), hen egg-PC (EPC, 94% purity), and de-oiled soybean lecithin (DSL, PC 23% purity) were used as sources of dietary PC. The results indicated that optimal metamorphosis in larval P. japonicus was obtained at levels of 15–30 g kg−1 of dietary SPC. Feeding trials with postlarval P. japonicus showed that low levels of dietary SPC (15 g kg−1) were more beneficial than higher levels of SPC (30 g kg−1) or DSL (65 g kg−1), although early postlarvae (<3 mg dry weight) presented a higher requirement for PC than later stages. Shrimp fed the 150 g kg−1 PC-supplemented diets exhibited significantly better resistance to salinity stress than those fed a PC-deficient diet. A high level of dietary soybean lecithin (65 g kg−1 DSL), providing 15 g kg−1 of dietary PC, was no more effective for young postlarvae of P. japonicus than 15 g kg−1 of purified PC alone, which suggested that the other phospholipids (mainly phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol) in the soybean lecithin are not required for postlarval shrimp, at least when there is already an adequate source of PC.