Evaluation of the Biochemical Composition of Four Marine Algae and Its Nutritional Value for Brine Shrimp.

Microalgae are utilized in aquaculture as a live feed for the crustaceans, ablone, zooplanktons, etc.The present study was aimed to examine the nutritional status of Artemia sp.nauplii enriched with four different algal sources namely Chaetoceros calcitrans, Skeletonema coastaum, Duniella salina & D. bardawil and also the amount of beta-carotene assimilated when enriched with the two green algae.Artemia sp.nauplii enriched with D. salina showed high amounts of protein and carbohydrate, whereas Artemia sp.fed with Chaetoceros calcitrans showed high amounts of lipid.The protein profile of Artemia sp.enriched with different algal sources did not show prominent differences in the polypeptide bands.However, high amount of beta-carotene was assimilated in Artemia sp.nauplii when enriched with D. salina.Hence this study showed that the microalgae D. salina can be used as a potential feed to improve the nutritional status of Artemia sp.nauplii.