Dietary enrichment with fish oil improved n–3 LC-PUFA profile in aquacultured Sardinella brasiliensis fillet

The effects of dietary supplementation with different fish oil inclusions on proximate composition and fatty acid profile in Sardinella brasiliensis fillets were investigated. For this, 375 S. brasiliensis (32.52 ± 5.93 g) were divided into 15 experimental units, comprising a control group with no fish oil supplementation (0%), and four treated groups with fish oil supplementation at concentrations of 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9% and 1.2%. On the 45th day, linoleic acid was significantly higher (10.76 ± 0.30) in the 0% treatment, while eicosapentaenoic acid was significantly higher on the 30th (0.80 ± 0.14 and 0.90 ± 0.02) and 45th days (0.56 ± 0.13 and 0.66 ± 0.02) in treatments 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively. Docosahexaenoic acid was significantly higher in the 0.9% and 1.2% treatments on the 30th day compared to the 0.3% and 0% groups. Docosapentaenoic acid was significantly different between the groups on the 30th and 45th days. The moisture was reduced (61.30 ± 0.68 and 60.32 ± 0.72) in the 0.3% and 0.6% treatments, respectively. Fillet lipid increased in the 0.6% and 0.9% treatments. However, 0.9% and 1.2% treatments equally improved the polyunsaturated fatty acid profile in sardine fillet on the 30th day of treatment. •0.3% n–3 LC-PUFA dietary enrichment reduced moisture in fish fillet.•0.3% to 0.9% n–3 LC-PUFA dietary enrichment increased fillet lipids.•0.9% and 1.2% n–3 LC-PUFA enrichment improved fatty acid profile of Brazilian sardine.