Effects of dietary phospholipids on lipid transport in the juvenile prawn.

The present investigation was undertaken to see the postprandial variation in lipid com-positions of the hepatopancreas, hemolymph, and muscle after feeding of the test diets with 3% soybean lecithin (diet A) and without supplemental phospholipids (PL) (diet D) to understand the nutritional role of dietary PL in the prawn Penaeus japonicus. Total lipid (TL) concentrations of the hepatopancreas and hemolymph were higher in the prawns receiving diet A than in those receiving diet D during the holding period from 1h to 6h after feeding. The increase of TL concentrations of the hepatopancreas was mostly attributable to that of neutral lipids (NL) such as triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol (CH), whereas that of the hemolymph was mainly due to PL such as phosphatidylcholine besides NL such as TG and CH. On the other hand, no re-mazkable difference was seen about the variation of lipid class concentrations of the muscle between the two diet groups as observed in the hepatopancreas and hemolymph. On the basis of these data, dietary PL was suggested to take some part in the transport of dietary lipids such as chole-sterol and triglycerides in the body through the hemolymph.