The effect of dietary lipid and long-chain n-3 PUFA levels on growth, energy utilization, carcass quality, and immune function of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

The effect of varying dietary lipid and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on growth, feed efficiency, protein and energy utilization, carcass quality, and nonspecific immune functions was investigated in rainbow trout reared at two different water temperatures (7.5 and 15 C). Six diets were formulated to contain 47% digestible protein and 21 MJ/kg digestible energy. Three of the diets were formulated to contain increasing lipid levels (10, 16, and 18%) and three additional diets formulated to 18% lipid with different lipid sources. Varying dietary lipid and n-3 PUFA levels had little effect on growth and on protein and energy utilization. Diet composition only had limited effect on susceptibility of the flesh to rancidity and on the nonspecific immunity of the fish. Increasing lipid levels did not affect fish carcass or fillet proximate composition. Replacing half of fish oil with beef tallow resulted in lower n-3 PUFAs in fish fillet but did not affect nutrient digestibility or growth performance of fish even at 7.5 C. Increasing dietary n-3 levels using a fish oil concentrate resulted in significant enrichment of n-3 PUFAs and elevated n-3 : n-6 ratio of the whole body and carcass. Water temperature significantly affected apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of protein and energy but did not affect the ADC of lipid, nor did it affect nitrogen and energy retention efficiencies. The study suggests that highly saturated fats, such as beef tallow, can be used to partially replace fish oil without negative effect on digestibility and growth even at low water temperature. High dietary n-3 PUFAs levels can be used to enrich n-3 PUFAs of the flesh without negative effect on the immune response