Effect of fucoidan on growth and fatty acid profile in rainbow trout, (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum 1792)

The effect of different levels of fucoidan on fatty acid profile and growth of rainbow trout were investigated. 150 fish (average weight 18.84 ± 70.7) were distributed in 15 fiberglass tanks (100 liters) and fed for 8 weeks at different levels (0 (control), 0.1%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% fucoidan). The results showed that the treatment with the highest amount of fucoidan had the highest final weight, specific growth rate and body weight gain, and there was a significant difference between treatments (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between feed conversion ratio and different treatments (p> 0.05). The difference between EPA, DHA, SFA, MUFA, n-3, HUFA and ratio of n-3 to n-6 was not significant (p >0.05), while PUFA and Arachidonic acid significantly different between treatments (p <0.05) and the highest value was observed in in treatment 2 and 1% respectively. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that this type of Polysaccharide at high doses (1 and 2% of fucoidan) can improve the growth performance and maintain the quality of muscle fatty acids.