Inclusion of crude palm oil in the broodstock diets of female Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, resulted in enhanced reproductive performance compared to broodfish fed diets with added fish oil or linseed oil

The intensive farming of tilapia is rapidly expanding and the need to produce sufficient quantities of quality fry is becoming crucial to meet increasing global demands for stocking tilapia farms. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary lipid source on the reproductive performance of tilapia broodfish. Four isonitrogenous (35% protein) and isolipidic (10%) casein-based diets were formulated with added fish oil (FO), FO and crude palm oil (FO + CPO; 1:1), CPO or linseed oil (LSO) as the lipid source, respectively. Pre-spawning female Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, GIFT strain) was individually color-tagged, and six females and two males were stocked into a one-tonne breeding tank. Each diet was fed to two tanks of broodfish and the reproductive performance of 12 individual female fish was monitored over 25 weeks. Female broodfish fed the two CPO-based diets showed significantly (P < 0.05) larger gonad sizes and lower intraperitoneal fat compared to fish fed the FO or LSO diets. First spawning occurred earliest in broodfish fed the CPO diet at 30.8 ± 9.9 days compared to 44.1, 45.5 or 76.3 days for fish fed the FO + CPO, FO or LSO diet, respectively. The highest number of actively spawning tilapia was observed in fish fed the FO + CPO diet, followed by fish fed the CPO, FO or LSO diet, respectively. At the end of 25 weeks, tilapia fed the two CPO-based diets produced the highest total number of eggs per fish due to the shorter inter spawning interval and higher spawning frequency. Mean diameter, volume and weight of eggs did not vary among dietary treatments. Egg hatchability was significantly higher in broodfish fed the CPO-based diets. The fatty acid composition of the muscle, gonad, egg and newly hatched larvae was influenced by dietary lipid source. However, evidence of preferential fatty acid conservation, conversion and utilization was also observed in these tissues. The fatty acid composition of tilapia eggs did not vary over four consecutive spawns. The gonads, eggs and larvae of tilapia fed the CPO diet contained the highest relative concentration of saturates, monoenes, arachidonic acid and n-6/n-3 ratio. The high total n-3 PUFA concentration observed in the gonads of fish fed the LSO diet, and to a lesser degree the FO diet, seemed to be detrimental to the reproductive performance of tilapia. In conclusion, the inclusion of CPO in tilapia broodstock diets can be a cost-effective method to increase tilapia fry production.