Abstract
To sustainably produce marine fish with a high lipid quality rich in omega-3 fatty acids, alternative sources of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are being identified. Moreover, the use of bioactive compounds that would stimulate the in vivo fatty acid synthesis, such as resveratrol (RV), would reduce the dependence on fish oil in aquafeeds. Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) were fed four experimental diets combining two fish oil levels (6% dry matter (DM); 2% DM) with or without 0.15% DM resveratrol supplementation (F6, F2, F6 + RV, F2 + RV) for two months. Additionally, the fish were challenged either at 19 °C or 23 °C. A higher water temperature promoted their feed intake and growth, resulting in an increased crude lipid content irrespective of dietary treatment. The fatty acid composition of different tissues was significantly affected by the holding temperature and dietary fish oil level. The dietary RV significantly affected the hepatic EPA and DHA content of fish held at 19 °C. The observed effect of RV may be partly explained by alterations of the mRNA steady-state levels of ∆6-desaturase and β-oxidation-related genes. Besides the relevant results concerning RV-mediated regulation of fatty acid synthesis in marine fish, further studies need to be conducted to clarify the potential value of RV to enhance fillet lipid quality.
Highlights
Fish are the predominant source of the omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) which play a unique role in human nutrition, health, and development [1]
The FA composition of marine species usually reflects that of their diet, since the ability to convert dietary C18 precursor fatty acids to LC-PUFAs is hardly present in marine finfish [8,9]
The same applied for the daily feed intake (DFI) which was about 3.2 for fish held at 19 ◦ C and 4.2 for fish held at 23 ◦ C
Summary
Fish are the predominant source of the omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) which play a unique role in human nutrition, health, and development [1]. The gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) is a carnivorous marine fish species of economic importance especially in the Mediterranean region [3]. Sustainable diet formulations with low levels of fish oil do not necessarily affect the growth and performance, but impair the fillet quality and fatty acid (FA) composition of sea bream and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) [4,5,6,7]. Nowadays, farmed gilthead sea bream can have decreased EPA and DHA contents per gram of fillet in comparison to past years due to fish oil replacement [5], the content in farmed sea bream is higher than in the wild specimens [4]
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