ANALYSIS OF NUTRITIONAL INDICATORS IN ARTEMIA

Abstract

The Artemia is one of the most important live food in larviculture. Nevertheless the nutritional value is strongly variable and depends on strain and culture conditions. Nutritional characteristics of cyst from saltworks in Cuba were compared with ones from the Nippai Company usually used in larviculture centres. Proportions of total protein, lipids, ashes and fatty acids were determined to decapsulated cyst and fresh hatched nauplii. The highest protein content was found in cyst while total lipids and ashes shown the highest content in nauplii. The Artemia cyst from Cuban saltworks have a higher content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) than the one from Nippai Company and can be classified as marine type.