The effects of different feeding times and diets on the whole body fatty acid composition of goldfish (Carassius auratus) larvae

Abstract In this study, the effects on whole body fatty acid levels of goldfish larvae (Carassius auratus) caused by different feeding times T(1–4) and diets D(1–3) were investigated during the early larval stages which is the first 15 days’ of feeding. Fatty acid levels for all experimental groups were found to be: 1.54 to 3.45% for myristic acid, 17.57 to 22.68% for palmitic acid, 28.81 to 41.16% for total saturated fatty acids-∑SFA, 2.37 to 4.04% for palmitoleic acid, 13.79 to 39.21% for oleic acid, 22.60 to 47.59% for total monounsaturated fatty acids-∑MUFA, 3.62 to 7.69% for linolenic acid-ALA, 0.35 to 1.11% for arachidonic acid-ARA, 7.50 to 9.76% for total n-6 fatty acids-∑ n-6, 1.04 to 2.28% for linoleic acid-LA, 0.81 to 2.52% for eicosapentaenoic acid-EPA and 5.56 to 10.28% for docosahexaenoic acid-DHA. The total n-3 acids-∑ n-3, total polyunsaturated fatty acids-∑PUFA, PUFA/SFA ratio, ∑ n-6/∑ n-3 and DHA/EPA ratio of the experimental groups were determined to be 7.24 to 14.83%, 14.73 to 23.46%, 0.47 to 0.73, 0.58 to 1.04 and 3.21 to 8.7, respectively. In conclusion, the whole body fatty acid levels of goldfish larvae (Carassius auratus) determined in this study revealed the significant effects of different feeding times (T1–4) and different diets (D 1–3) using (P < 0.05).