Lipid composition of Ruditapes philippinarum spat: effect of ration and diet quality

This study investigates the influence of the lipid composition of microalgal and commercial flour diets on the lipid classes and fatty acids of Ruditapes philippinarum spat. Aspects of the nutritional role of the diets and the feeding ration are discussed with regard to previously published spat growth data. Our results demonstrated that clams showed the best growth rates when fed with diets that supplied a larger quantity of lipids, further characterised by a high content of phospholipids and triacylglycerols. We observed a significant correlation between the amount of triacylglycerols (r=0.929, p<0.05) and phospholipids (r=0.781, p<0.05) supplied and spat growth. In addition, R. phillipinarum spat reached the highest percentages of triacylglycerols (about 12%) and the lowest percentages of phospholipids (about 60%) and sterols (about 4%) with these growth-promoting diets. Spat fed with the other diets and/or rations showed lower growth rates and significantly lower quantities of triacylglycerols. In the present study, the alternative essentiality of 20:5n-3 and/or 22:6n-3 is confirmed. The diminishing supply of 22:6n-3 without an increase of 20:5n-3 has an effect on the growth of the spat. The dietary composition of fatty acids influenced the fatty acid profiles in bivalves. The results of our study would suggest that R. philippinarum is incapable of transforming 18:3n-3 to 20:5n-3 and then to 22:6n-3. Accordingly, although diets contained 18:3n-3, the spat reflected the low content of 20:5n-3 of the diets. With respect to 22:6n-3, given that this fatty acid is present in high quantities in Isochrysis, the spat content of this fatty acid was relative to its content in the diet. This study showed that clams with the lowest growth rates presented an increase in 20:4n-6. In the spat fed with the microalgal diets, 18:2n-6 scarcely reached 2% whereas in spat fed with wheat germ 18:2n-6 amounted to 18% of the total fatty acids. This fatty acid, by means of elongation, transforms to 20:2n-6, which also appeared in important quantities in the lipids of the spat fed totally or partially by wheat germ. We note that 20:2n-6 did not originate from the diet since it is absent in the microalgae and the flour. The desaturation of 20:2n-6 to 20:3n-6 has not been observed (low levels of 20:3n-6 in all cases) and therefore it can be assumed that the observed levels of 20:4n-6 were diet-related.