A total of 35 males of Nile tilapia, averaging initial weight of 205 g, were maintained in five 250 L metabolism boxes to evaluate the lipid metabolism of Nile tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus). The experiment lasted 30 days, from October to November 2006. The treatments were: control diet plus olive oil; control diet plus corn oil; control diet plus soybean oil; control diet plus linseed oil; control diet plus fish oil. The experiment was in a completely randomized design with five treatments and seven replicates. The evaluated parameters were: fatty acid profile of the muscle tissue and hepatic activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and malic enzyme (ME). The data were submitted to variance analysis and the means of the treatments were compared by Scott-Knott's test (5% of significance). The fish fed on a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids presented increased contents of such fat acids in their lipid muscle composition. The hepatic activity of G6PD was superior to that of ME, being higher in the specimen fed rations containing olive, corn and soybean oil, thus, evidencing the highest lipid muscle deposition of these fish.
fish; lipid; nutrition; oil
