Abstract
Positional distribution of fatty acids in triacyl-sn-glycerols (TAG) has been investigated for Artemia franciscana nauplii used in marine fish larviculture as an important live food. For enhancement of essential highly unsaturated fatty acids, the nauplii were enriched for 4 to 24 h with two emulsions containing fish roe polar lipids (PL), (i) a mixture of bonito head oil TAG and salmon roe PL concentrate (88:12, wt/wt) and (ii) an unmixed salmon roe PL concentrate. In TAG isolated from all enriched Artemia nauplii, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was preferentially esterified in the sn-3 position (0.7-22.9 mol%) followed in sequence by the sn-2 (0.1-7.5 mol%) and sn-1 (0.0-4.6 mol%) positions. This distribution pattern was the same as previously observed for enrichment with bonito head oil TAG free from salmon roe PL. Addition of fish roe PL to DHA-rich fish oil enricher does not seem to practically affect the distribution pattern of DHA characteristic of Artemia nauplii.
