Enrichment of Artemia nauplii in essential fatty acids with different types of liposomes and their use in the rearing of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) larvae

The present study aimed to optimize the enrichment protocols of Artemia nauplii with highly unsaturated fatty acid liposomes. Three different types of liposomes formulated with krill phospholipid extract were tested, using a commercial emulsion as the control treatment. The incubation time of the nauplii in the enrichment medium was chosen as the first variable studied. Total lipid, lipid class and fatty acid profiles were analyzed in enriched nauplii after 18 and 21 h incubation in the enrichment media. A third sampling point at 24 h, where nauplii had been kept in clean seawater at 28 °C for 3 h, was established to emulate potential changes in the nutritional value of the nauplii after some hours in the larval rearing tank. A second objective of the study was the establishment of a suitable liposome-based diet for the rearing of gilthead sea bream larvae, as a model of marine fish. Differences in the enrichment efficiencies through time were found not only between liposome and emulsion based diets, but also among the different types of liposomes. Whereas nauplii enriched with multilamellar vesicles and unilamellar liposomes prepared by extrusion had maximum enrichment performance at 18 h of incubation, nauplii enriched with unilamellar liposomes prepared by the detergent solubilization method followed the enrichment pattern of the control emulsion, with an optimal incubation period closer to 21 h. Analyses of the diets of the larval nutrition trial seemed to confirm the results obtained in the first experiment, although changes in certain variables occurred among the enrichments carried out during the larval feeding trial. Biochemical characterization of body lipids of the larvae indicated differences in total lipid and essential fatty acid content, although no significant differences were found in growth and survival of the larvae. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), used to determine the peroxide content of the larvae, indicated a significant higher content of these compounds in larvae fed emulsion enriched nauplii compared to larvae fed liposome enriched prey.