Comparison of phosphatidylcholine purified from soybean and marine fish roe in the diet of postlarval Penaeus vannamei Boone

The effects of adding two different types of phosphatidylcholine (PC) (puri fied from soybean lecithin, SPC, or marine fish roe, MPC) on growth, surviv al and osmotic stress resistance as well as lipid and fatty acid compositio n of postlarval Penaeus vannamei was determined. PC was added at a level of 1.5% in a semi-purified diet containing similar levels of essential fatty acids (EFA). A PC-free diet served as the control treatment. The supplement ation of 1.5% SPC significantly improved growth and reduced sensitivity to osmotic stress. P. vannamei-fed MPC showed inferior growth compared to thos e fed SPC, but yielded better growth and survival than the PC-deprived shri mp. The addition of any of the PC types resulted in a significant increase in whole body lipid content compared to PC-deprived shrimp. The increase in the whole body lipid content was accompanied by an increase in the proport ion of triacylglycerol (TAG) and PC, and a decrease in free sterol (FS). P. vannamei showed an increase in the proportions of docosahexaenoic acid (DH A) and linoleic acid (LA) at the expense of 16:0, whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was not changed due to SPC supplementation. A similar fatty acid profile was found in shrimp fed either MPC or SPC. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.