Relationship between dietary phospholipid classes and neutral lipid absorption in newly-weaned turbot, Scophthalmus maximus

A 28-day feeding trial was conducted for comparing the effect of different dietary phospholipid (PL) classes on the growth of post-larval turbot and on the incorporation of dietary neutral lipid fatty acids into their body lipids. Prior to the experiment the turbot were weaned for one week on a PL-free diet. The nine experimental diets were isolipidic and contained an equal amount of highly unsaturated fatty acids in the form of ethyl esters. They differed by their PL content (0, 1 or 2%) and by the PL class composition of the added soybean PL fractions. Compared to the PL-free diet, diets enriched with phosphatidylcholine (PC) resulted in a better growth, a higher triglyceride content (% body dry matter) and increased levels of docosahexaenoic acid (% total fatty acids) in each of the examined body lipid classes (neutral lipid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol). The effects of the other soybean PL fractions were less explicit than those noted for soybean PC. The results support the idea that dietary PC plays a role in the intestinal absorption of neutral lipid fatty acids. This might, at least partially, explain the superiority of PC for enhancing growth.