Critical Review: Essential fatty acids on shrimp feeding

Abstract

Four types of poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are essential for all shrimp species, linoleic (LOA, 18:2n-6), alfa-linolenic (ALA, 18:3n-3), eicosapentaenoic (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic (DHA, 22:6n-3) acids. Moreover, the arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6), even when present, seems to be, in crustaceans, not so important or yet dispensable. It is relevant knowing that cholesterol as much as PUFA are not well absorbed when not followed by a substantial amount of lecithin, reaching 5% of the ration. The sum of PUFA reaches around 3% of the diet, even varying according to the species, stage and ration type. For Penaeus monodon, a complex mathematic model was formulated in order to describe the relationships between the requirements of the cited PUFA. Industries involved with feed production on this segment must possess its own adaptation for another species. On the other hand, biochemical knowledge on PUFA n-3 series compounds functions are yet very delayed in comparison to the advances on pharmaceutical industry that investigates the n-6 series, with its prevalence in humans. In this review, the term PUFA is generically used to include ALA, LOA, DPA, EPA, ARA and DHA.