Palm Oil in Salmonid Feeds

Aqua Feeds: Formulation & Beyond Volume 1, Issue 1, 2004
Title:	Palm Oil in Salmonid Feeds
Section:	Feature Articles, pages 7-9
Author & Affiliation:	Dr. WingKeong Ng Fish Nutrition Laboratory School of Biological Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia Malaysia
E-mail:	wkng@usm.my

Web Summary

Predicted to be the most abundant vegetable oil in the future, palm oil has the potential to be a sustainable alternative to fish oil in aqua feeds. The oil is a rich source of natural pigments and antioxidants and offers many advantages for feed applications. Photo courtesy: Malaysian Palm Oil Board Past research has shown that palm oil can replace fish oil in feeds for tilapia, catfish and Atlantic salmon. Since salmonid feeds use very high levels of lipids, a suitable substitute for fish oil is warranted in these feeds in the near future. This article presents the advantages of palm oil application in salmonid feeds and cautions about the pitfalls formulators should avoid when using palm oil.

The stated advantages of palm oil use in salmonid feeds are:
1. It reduces feed rancidity as the oil is low in PUFA content and high in natural antioxidants.
2. It lowers the level of oil leakage in feeds and consequent staining of bags (presumably because of the high melting point of the oil).
3. It is a superior source of dietary energy because it has abundant supply of saturates (48%) and monoenes (42%).
4. It improves fillet quality because of the high levels of natural antioxidants, especially Vitamin E in the form of tocotrienols that provide high oxidative stability. The accumulation of antioxidants not only extends shelf-life and pigmentation, but also has potential benefits for human health.
5. Its low level of omega-6 PUFA, may have potential health benefits for humans who already consume high levels of omega-6 PUFA.

The constraints in the use of palm oil in feeds for salmonids are:
1. It has low levels of omega-3 fatty acids, so the feeds should be formulated to contain HUFA sources such as fish oil and fishmeal to assure that minimal HUFA requirements are met.
2. The use of high levels of palm oil in salmonid diets will decrease the concentrations of beneficial omega-3 HUFA in fish fillets destined for the human consumer. One strategy that can be used to normalize the flesh levels of beneficial omega-3 HUFA is to revert back to a fish oil-based diet at an appropriate time before harvest.
3. It has lowered digestibility in cold weather.

The paper contains 2 figures and one table.

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Useful References Provided by the Author
(Note: This does not appear in the print version)

Ng W.K., Sigholt T. & Bell J.G. (2004). The influence of environmental temperature on the apparent nutrient and fatty acid digestibility in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fed finishing diets containing different blends of fish oil, rapeseed oil and palm oil. Aquaculture Research (in review).

Ng W.K., Wang Y., Ketchimenin P. & Yuen K.H. (2004). Replacement of dietary fish oil with palm fatty acid distillate elevates tocopherol and tocotrienol concentrations and increases oxidative stability in the muscle of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Aquaculture 233: 423-437.

Tocher D.R., Fonseca-Madrigal J., Dick J.R., Ng W.K., Bell J.G. & Campbell P.J. (2004). Effects of water temperature and diets containing palm oil on fatty acid desaturation and oxidation in hepatocytes and intestinal enterocytes of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 137: 49-63.

Ng W.K., Campbell P.J., Dick J.R. & Bell J.G. (2003) Interactive effects of dietary palm oil level and water temperature on fatty acid digestibility in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Lipids 38: 1031-1038.

Bell J.G., Henderson J.R., Tocher D.R., McGhee F., Dick J.R., Porter A., Smullen R.P. & Sargent J.R. (2002). Substituting fish oil with crude palm oil in the diet of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) affects muscle fatty acid composition and hepatic fatty acid metabolism. Journal of Nutrition 132: 222-230.

Ng W.K. (2002) Potential of palm oil utilisation in aquaculture feeds. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 11: 473-476.

Ng W.K., Lim P.K. & Boey P.L. (2002) Dietary lipid and palm oil source affects growth, fatty acid composition and muscle ?-tocopherol concentration of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Aquaculture 215: 229-243.

Ng W.K., Lim P.K. & Sidek H. (2001) The influence of a dietary lipid source on growth, muscle fatty acid composition and erythrocyte osmotic fragility of hybrid tilapia. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 25: 301-310.

Lim P.K., Boey P.L. & Ng W.K. (2001) Dietary palm oil level affects growth performance, protein retention and tissue vitamin E concentration of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Aquaculture 202: 101-112.

Ng W.K., Tee M.C. & Boey P.L. (2000) Evaluation of crude palm oil and refined palm olein as dietary lipids in pelleted feeds for a tropical bagrid catfish Mystus nemurus (C & V). Aquaculture Research 31: 337-347.