Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research 3(8), pp. 9-15, 2014 Journal Homepage: www.cjasr.com ISSN: 2251-9114 The study of unsaturated fatty acids in enriched adult Artemia A.franciscana at different times of enrichment Mostafa Musaee 1 , Fakhriyeh Omidi 2,* , Abbas Matinfar 3 , Mojgan Khodadadi 4 1 Islamic Azad University - Ahvaz Unit of Science and Research, Ahvaz, Iran 2 Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran 3 Iranian Fisheries Research Organization, Iran 4 Department of Agricultural and Natural Resources, Ahvaz Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran One main indicator in determining aquatic food is the amount of fatty acids. In order to achieve the best time for Artemia enrichment with fatty acids, the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in adult Artemia A.franciscana, at different times of enrichment with Spari Selco was evaluated. For the nutrition of the Artemia, a species of unicellular algae Tetraselmis suecica, was used during the nourishment. During different treatments, Artemia was exposed to enrichment solutions for 1, 2, 4 and 6 hours. Another treatment was also considered as control. Compared to the control treatment, the amount of the unsaturated fatty acids in all treatments showed a significant increase (p<0/05).This increase was even more considerable in Arachidonic acid and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (p<0/05). Also in different treatments, the amount of the unsaturated fatty acids 2 hours after the enrichment showed a significant increase compared to others, and this difference was statistically quite significant (p<0/05). According to the results obtained and the statistical analysis performed, it was determined that the best time for Artemia enrichment by unsaturated fatty acids can be obtained 2 hours after the enrichment. © 2014 Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research. All rights reserved. Keywords: Adult Artemia; Unsaturated fatty acids; Enrichment * Corresponding address: Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran E-mail address: fakhriyeomidi@yahoo.com (Fakhriyeh Omidi) © 2014 Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research; www.cjasr.com. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Nowadays, using enriched food is very common in aquaculture and is proposed as an effective approach. Artemia potentially can be used as an appropriate and enriched food for fish and crustaceans such as shrimp, in the form of food absorbent or a part of diet. It should be noted that, today in order to increase sexual maturity of shrimp spawners, live enriched foods like adult Artemia are used (Agh and Sorgeloos, 2005). Fats and fatty acids play an important role in the biochemistry of the cell membrane and its associated processes such as osmotic pressure, cell reproduction and food intake (Borlangan and Benitz, 1992). Both n-6 and n-3 fatty acid that are essential in animals and humans not synthesized and should be included in their diet (Horrobin and Manku, 1990). Thus, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA), especially the longer-chain n-3 and n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA), are considered essential fatty acids (Satar et al., 2012).