en aquaculture aquaculture پژوهشي Orginal research papers <p><span lang="TR" style="font-size:11.0pt"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:black">The increasing demand for sustainable protein resources in aquaculture has prompted the exploration of alternative feed ingredients, such as mealworm (MW; <i>Tenebrio molitor</i>). This study evaluates the effects of MW inclusion on the fatty acid composition and proximate analysis of Pacific white shrimp (<i>Litopenaeus vannamei</i>) during a 60-day feeding trial involving juvenile shrimp, which were assigned to five experimental diets with varying MW inclusion levels: T₀ (0% MW), T₁₅ (15% MW), T₃₀ (30% MW), T₆₀ (60% MW), and T₁₀₀ (100% MW), all formulated to maintain a protein content of approximately 37%. Proximate analysis indicated that fishmeal (FM) contained a crude protein level of 56.31%, while MW had a comparable content of 53.10% (<i>p</i>>0.05). However, FM demonstrated significantly higher levels of digestible protein, ash, and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) compared to MW, which was characterized by higher lipid and fiber contents. The analysis of shrimp muscle composition revealed that increased MW inclusion (T₃₀-T₁₀₀) significantly enhanced crude protein levels (<i>p</i><0.05), while T₀ showed the highest crude lipid content (<i>p</i><0.05). FA profiling indicated that FM was abundant in essential long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 8.54%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 13.57%). Conversely, MW lacked these essential FAs, leading to a decrease in EPA and DHA levels in shrimp muscle as MW inclusion increased. The predominant FAs in shrimp muscle shifted towards oleic acid (C18:1c), particularly in the T₁₀₀ treatment. The findings of this study indicate that increased inclusion of MW significantly enhances the crude protein levels in Pacific white shrimp while concurrently leading to a decrease in essential fatty acids such as EPA and DHA. This highlights the necessity for dietary supplementation with alternative lipid sources to meet the essential fatty acid requirements of <i>L. vannamei</i>.</span></span></span></p> Mealworm, Shrimp, Fishmeal, Fatty acid, Nutrition, Feed formulation, Insect meal, Sustainable aquaculture 983 999 http://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-327-4&slc_lang=en&sid=1 M. Sharifinia moslem.sharifina@yahoo.com 100319475328460056877 100319475328460056877 Yes Shrimp Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bushehr, 75169-89177, Iran A. Dashtiannasab adashtiannasab@gmail.com 100319475328460056878 100319475328460056878 No Shrimp Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bushehr, 75169-89177, Iran S. Mobaraki samira.mobaraki@gmail.com 100319475328460056879 100319475328460056879 No Shrimp Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bushehr, 75169-89177, Iran M.K. Pazir dr.pazir@gmail.com 100319475328460056880 100319475328460056880 No Shrimp Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bushehr, 75169-89177, Iran