Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Coconut Oil on the Growth, Fatty Acid Profiles and Some Lipid Metabolism Relative Gene Expressions of Orange‐spotted Grouperepinephelus Coioides

This study investigated the effects of coconut oil as a dietary supplement on the growth, lipid metabolism and related gene expressions of juvenile orange-spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides. Coconut oil at concentrations of 0, 10, 30 and 50 g/kg was used to replace dietary lipids in a basal diet containing 150 g/kg lipids. The four experimental diets were, respectively, fed to triplicate groups of juvenile groupers (initial weight: 8.53 +/- 0.13 g) in a recirculating system for 8 weeks. Fish fed the diet containing 50 g/kg coconut oil exhibited lower (p < .05) weight gain than did fish fed the diet containing 30 g/kg coconut oil; however, no significant differences in weight gain were observed between fish fed diets containing 0 and 10 g/kg coconut oil. Hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1, fatty acid synthase, fatty acid elongase, fatty acid desaturase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma gene expressions were all the highest in fish fed the diet containing 10 g/kg coconut oil. Fish fed the coconut oil-free basal diet demonstrated upregulated gene expression of neuropeptide Y. The results suggest that dietary supplementation with 10 g/kg coconut oil exerted beneficial effects on lipid metabolism by E. coioides.