As described in the scientific literature, the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) shows relatively high capacity to biosynthesize Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (HUFA) from PolyUnsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) when fish oil is replaced by vegetable oil in the diet.

In our project, we suppose that the Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) could also have relatively high capacity to synthezise HUFA when fish are fed a diet enriched in vegetable oil. This hypothesis is supported by previous studies showing a stable n-3 HUFA concentrations in liver when fish were fed a vegetable-based-diet with low levels in HUFA for 12 weeks.

The main aim of this project is to define the potential of the Eurasian perch to bioconvert HUFA from PUFA.

Rainbow Trout