Fatty acid profile during embryonic development of the cultivable freshwater prawn Macrobrachium malcolmsonii (H. Milne Edwards)

Abstract

The fatty acid profile during embryonic development of Macrobrachium malcolmsonii was studied. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was the highest (12.82 %) in the mature ovary but it decreased linearly from 12.77 % in the initial stage (0 hour) to 9.79 % in the final stage (312 hour). Eicosapentaenoic acid in embryo showed inverse linear relationship with time after fertilization. Similar trend was also observed for 22:5n 6 and 22:6n 3 fatty acid contents with time. Saturates in general increased during stage II and III. However, during stage IV, 12.51 % was utilised. Stage II utilised 7.42 % monounsaturates, a high percentage when compared with other stages (stage I, 0.3 %, stage III, 3.84 % and stage IV, -4.86 %). It is interesting to note that among polyunsaturates (PUFA), 20:4n 6 and 20:5/i 3 were utilised more in stages I, III, and IV than in stage II. However, other fatty acids (20:2n 6,9 and 22:5n 6) showed not much difference in utilization. In general, PUFA were utilised more in stage III (7.40 %) and stage IV (0.05 %) than in stage I (1.36 %) and stage II (0.63 %).