{"id":1330,"date":"2013-10-22T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insta-pro.com\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2023-06-22T07:46:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T12:46:53","slug":"farmed-fish-are-what-they-eat-sort-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/instapro.spinuhost.com\/en\/blog\/nutritionandtechnologies\/farmed-fish-are-what-they-eat-sort-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmed Fish Are What They Eat…Sort of"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eating fish is becoming more popular<\/a>, at least in part due to the health benefits derived from its consumption<\/a>.\u00a0 In particular, a growing body of evidence<\/a> suggests that it is the omega-3 fatty acids<\/a> in fish meat that are responsible for these benefits.<\/p>\n

It is, therefore, of interest to produce fish which are able to supply omega-3 fatty acids in their meat.<\/p>\n

I examined data from two feeding studies (here<\/a> and here<\/a>) on farmed Atlantic salmon. \u00a0The experimental diets were designed to provide vastly different levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids<\/a> in the fish feed, and the effect of the dietary differences on fatty acid content of the salmon meat was determined.<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that the total amount of fat in salmon meat was very similar within each study, regardless of the dietary changes, so the data presented here represent the compositional changes in fat.\u00a0 Also, the total amount of fat in the experimental diets was nearly equal within each study.<\/p>\n

To a certain extent, the data indicated that farmed salmon are what they eat \u2013 see Figure 1.<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 1. The amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid levels in salmon feed strongly correlated to their respective levels in salmon meat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Simply put, more omega-3 fatty acids fed to salmon resulted in more omega-3 fatty acids in salmon meat, and the same is true for omega-6 fatty acids. \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Perhaps more interesting is the effect of omega-6 fatty acids in salmon feed on omega-3 fatty acids levels in meat \u2013 do increasing levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the diet affect omega-3 fatty acid levels in salmon meat?<\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 2. The amount of omega-6 fatty acids, and the ratio of omega-3\/omega-6 fatty acids, in salmon diets had limited effects on omega-3 fatty acids levels in salmon meat.<\/b><\/p>\n

So, increased levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the diet certainly reduced omega-3 levels in salmon meat, but only to a certain degree.\u00a0 Another way to consider the data is the following:<\/p>\n