The implications of substituting dietary fish oil with vegetable oils on the growth performance, fillet fatty acid profile and modulation of the fatty acid elongase, desaturase and oxidation activities of red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp.

Marine fish oil (FO) was traditionally used as the major lipid source in commercial tilapia feeds to provide energy and essential fatty acids as well as to impart palability to the feed. With the rising costs of FO and limited global supplies, the use of alternative lipid resources in aquafeeds, including tilapia feeds, has become more critical to enable the continued sustainability and scalability of the global aquaculture industry. Terrestrial vegetable oil (VO) are viable alternatives since their production is more sustainable and cost-effective. However, unlike FO, which is rich in n − 3 long chain-polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), VO are deficient in these essential fatty acids and but high in other fatty acid classes. The present study evaluated perilla oil (high levels of n − 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids), sunflower oil (rich in n − 6 PUFA), canola oil (high amounts of monounsaturated fatty acids) and palm oil (rich in saturated fatty acids) together with fish oil. By understanding how dietary lipid source with different major fatty acid classes modulates in vivo fatty acid metabolism, we can better formulate fish feeds that can optimize not only growth performance but also maintaining the health benefits of eating seafood for the human consumer in regards to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in farmed fish fillets. As far as we know, there is currently no information comparing the fatty acid metabolism of red hybrid tilapia fed diets with lipids containing different major fatty acid classes.