Amino acid and fatty acid profiles in aquaculture nutrition studies

Abstract

The amino acid profile is an important parameter in the evaluation of protein quality and in requirement studies. Amino acid profiles are usually determined in 2 steps: hydrolysis of the protein to constituent amino acids followed by quantitative analysis of the amino acids in the hydrolysate. The 10 amino acids known to be essential in most animals have been found to be essential in all fish so far studied. The reference amino acid profiles used in the amino acid requirement studies of various fish species include that of whole chicken, egg, fish egg and fish muscle. The amino acid profile of fish muscle provides a useful first approximation of the amino acid requirement of the young, growing fish in which the greatest proportion of weight gain is in the form of muscle.