The aim of this study was to analyze the chemical composition of shrimp fed with a diet complemented with linseed. 800 post larvae shrimp were divided into two types of treatment: 1) a test group based on casein complemented with linseed, and 2) a casein group. At the end of the experiment, the two treatments showed no significant differences in the mean values of humidity (79.8 ± 0.82; 78.9 ± 1.68), ashes (0.62 ± 0.07; 0.68 ± 0.2), carbohydrates (2.63 ± 0.13; 1.58 ± 0.7) and proteins (15.6 ± 1.02; 16.0 ± 0.58). However, the concentration of total lipids in both groups declined significantly during this study. This decline was more marked in the control group (74%). At the end of the experiment, the lipid content was higher (p < 0.05) in the test group (1.87 ± 0.03) than in the control group (1.12 ± 0.021). However, the cholesterol content in the test group (0.115 ± 0.004) was lower than in the control group (0.1306 ± 0.001), albeit without a statistically significant difference. It was concluded that the addition of linseed to the food seems to increase the shrimps' lipids, which suggests that this increase does not imply heightened cholesterol levels. It is also possible that the increase in lipids is due to the incorporation of a large proportion polyunsaturated fatty acids.
shrimp; macronutrients; linseed; cholesterol
