AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, cilt.53, sa.5, ss.1755-1765, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
This study aimed to investigate the effect of grape seed oil (GSO) on growth performance, feed utilization and the fatty acid profile of mirror carp fingerlings. Five isonitrogenous (36 g/100 g) and isoenergetic (3650 kcal/kg) diets supplemented with 0% (control), 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3% of GSO were prepared. Three hundred fish (3.65 g) were randomly allocated in five trial groups in triplicate with 20 fish per aquarium and fed three times a day with experimental diets at satiation level for 84 days. Growth performance and feed utilization in fish were similar among all test groups, except for the GSO-0.5 group. The condition factor, feed intake, hepatosomatic index, viscerosomatic index and proximate composition were not affected by GSO inclusion levels, except fatty acid profiles in fish flesh. The highest sigma n3-PUFA and sigma n6-PUFA values were observed in the GSO-3 group, whereas this group showed the lowest atherogenic and thrombogenic index values compared with the other test groups. The ratio of hypocholesterolaemic/hypercholesterolaemic fatty acids in fish also increased by GSO inclusion levels. The results suggest that GSO supplementation up to 3% could improve fish flesh fatty acid profile and lipid quality without adverse effect on growth performance and feed utilization in mirror carp fingerlings.