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Dietary astaxanthin improved the body pigmentation and antioxidant function, but not the growth of discus fish ( Symphysodon spp.)
Author(s) -
Song Xuelu,
Wang Lei,
Li Xiaoqin,
Chen Zaizhong,
Liang Gaoyang,
Leng Xiangjun
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aquaculture research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2109
pISSN - 1355-557X
DOI - 10.1111/are.13200
Subject(s) - astaxanthin , biology , antioxidant , carotenoid , zoology , antioxidant capacity , body weight , food science , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , biochemistry , endocrinology
Abstract To assess the effects of dietary astaxanthin on the growth and body colour of red discus fish ( Symphysodon spp.), synthetic astaxanthin was added into the basal diet (beef heart hamburger) with the levels of 0 (control diet), 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400 mg kg −1 respectively. The six experimental diets were fed to discus fish with an initial body weight of 10.3 ± 0.8 g for 8 weeks. The results showed that the supplementation of 50–200 mg kg −1 astaxanthin had no significant effects on growth performance of discus fish, but the high supplementation of astaxanthin (300 or 400 mg kg −1 ) significantly reduced the weight gain and increased the feed coefficient ratio ( P < 0.05). After 4 or 8 weeks of feeding, the L* (lightness) values in astaxanthin‐supplemented groups were significantly lower, while a* (redness), b* (yellowness) and skin astaxanthin contents were significantly higher than the control group ( P < 0.05). When the astaxanthin supplementation reached 200 mg kg −1 , skin redness and astaxanthin contents remained relatively stable. When b* was relatively stable, the supplemental astaxanthin was 300 (4 weeks) and 50 mg kg −1 (8 weeks) respectively. With the supplemental astaxanthin increasing, the astaxanthin retention rate significantly decreased and hepatic total antioxidant capacity was strengthened. The dietary astaxanthin also significantly increased the reduced glutathione level ( P < 0.05) when the astaxanthin inclusion was higher than 50 mg kg −1 . The above results showed that dietary astaxanthin could effectively improve the skin pigmentation of red discus fish in 4 weeks and the supplementation level was suggested to be 200 mg kg −1 .