Levels of Soybean Oil and Time of Treatment for Nile Tilapia: a Factorial Design for Total n-3 Fatty Acids, n-6/n-3 and PUFA/SFA Ratios

A 22 factorial design (two factors with two levels, in triplicate) was performed to investigate the influence of factors A (soybean oil content in supplemented diet, at 2.1 and 4.2%) and B (time of treatment, 15 and 30 days) in three responses [(a) total n-3 fatty acids; (b) n-6/n-3 ratio; and (c) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)/saturated fatty acids (SFA) ratio] from lipids of Nile tilapia submitted to experimental treatment. Normality of residuals was assessed through statistical tests. Factors A and B were significant in all obtained regression models, while AB interaction was not a significant contributor for PUFA/SFA response. ANOVA and response surfaces obtained from factorial design indicated best results in tilapia that received the diet containing 4.2% of soybean oil during 30 days.