Abstract
Abstract Background Comparative analysis of essential amino acids and fatty acid of enriched and unenriched Artemia spp. collected from Wadi El Natrun, Elbeheira, Egypt, was investigated. Results The obtained results indicated that Leucine recorded the highest concentration (17.22%, 11.4%) in unenrichment A. tunisiana and A. franciscana, respectively followed by arginine (10.31%, 9.6%); however, glutamic acid recorded the lowest concentration (0.05%) in A. tunisiana. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in some amino acid concentrations (P < 0.001) in both A. tunisiana and A. franciscana as arginine, valine, proline, and aspartic acid. Other amino acids were highly significantly fluctuated as glycine, leucine, histidine, phenylalanine, glutamic, and tyrosine; they were high in A. franciscana. Aspartic acid was significantly higher in unenrichment nauplii. Regarding the comparison between A. franciscana and enrichment A. tunisiana, the data showed non-significant improvement for the majority of the recorded amino acids. The analysis of unsaturated fatty acids n-3 and n-6 families after 18 and 24 h of enrichment Artemia was achieved. The composition of unsaturated fatty acids was significantly increased after enrichment to 79.7 mg/g DW instead of 46.5 in newly hatched nauplii. Saturated fatty acids were also significantly increased from 20 to 25.28 mg/g DW. The enrichment process was significant (P < 0.001) in nauplii enriched with fatty acids for 18 h. The more pronounced effect of duration was the amount of energy as it was 33.17 kJ/g after 18 h, while it was 45.693 kJ/g after 24 h incubation. The ratio of ascorbic acid, due to Artemia enrichment by vitamin C for 24 h, was increased from 853 to 3227 μg/g dry weight after enrichment. Conclusion To conclude, enrichment with cod liver oil and vitamin C obviously affected the chemical composition of local Egyptian Artemia (A. tunisiana).