Effect of esterification on the absorption of astaxanthin in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)

Abstract

Gastrointestinal and serum absorption of astaxanthin was studied in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) (217 + 2 g) fed diets supplemented with either esterified astaxanthin (from Haematococcus pluvialis) or free astaxanthin (synthetic, as 8% w/w beadlets) at similar levels (50 mg kg À1 ). After 56 days of feeding, there was a significant difference (P 0.0582) between steady-state serum astaxanthin concentrations for fish fed free (2.0 + 0.3 mg mL À1 ) or esterified astaxanthin (1.3 + 0.1 mg mL À1 ) at the 90% confidence level. However, following ingestion of a single meal supplemented with free or esterified astaxanthin, the rates of astaxanthin absorption into serum were not significantly different (P . 0.1) (0.8 + 0.2 mg mL À1 h À1 and 1.0 + 0.4 mg mL À1 h À1 respectively). In fish fed both free or esterified astaxanthin, higher absorption (P , 0.05) of astaxanthin by the ileal (0.8 + 0.14 mg g À1 and 0.9 + 0.15 mg g À1 respectively) compared with the posterior (0.2 + 0.01 mg g À1 and 0.3 + 0.14 mg g À1 respectively) intestine was recorded. This confirmed the role of the anterior intestine in carotenoid absorption. Non-detectable levels of esters in digesta taken from the hind intestine suggest the anterior intestine is also the primary region for ester hydrolysis.

Engineering of tomato for the sustainable production of ketocarotenoids and its evaluation in aquaculture feed

“…The ketocarotenoids present in the tomato material and derived extracts are predominantly esterified, but those ketocarotenoids present in the flesh of the trout are nonesterified. This observation supports previous findings where esterified ketocarotenoids have been shown to be cleaved in the intestine of the trout before deposition in the flesh (18). To date, the literature is inconclusive with regard to the potential of the esterified carotenoid forms being more bioavailable to fish (19,20).…”

The behavioural effects of supplementing diets with synthetic and naturally sourced astaxanthin in an ornamental fish ( Puntius titteya )

“…flavonoids, pteridines or pyridines) or there may have been digestibility and absorption factors which prevented more pronounced colour changes i.e. astaxanthin esterification, solubility and diet lipid content or carotenoid conversion (Bories et al, 2007, Guillaume et al, 2001, White et al, 2002. There may also have been an effect of using adult fish within this study, for instance, if the fish have consumed carotenoids during growth from juveniles they may have already saturated the amount of pigments within the skin prior to feeding trials.…”

Improving the quality of tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon through dietary incorporation of algae as a source of natural pigment

“…The Enteromorpha Improving shrimp quality through dietary incorporation of natural algal astaxanthin sample selected for the investigation is found to contain 120.78 ppm astaxanthin as reported from the present study region (Mitra et al, 2013;Banerjee et al, 2009;Chakraborty and Santra, 2008). Carotenoid, particularly astaxanthin content of feed is one of the major factors influencing the colour development in animals (Moretti et al, 2006) but at the same time scientific knowledge about several factors like dietary pigment source, their dosage level, feeding duration, dietary composition and magnitude of carotenoid esterification is also required to identify these interaction processes (Meyers and Latscha, 1997;Bjerkeng, 2000;Buttle et al, 2001;Gomes et al, 2002;White et al, 2002). The present study showed significantly different astaxanthin content of the farmed shrimp which are in agreement to the observations that crustaceans exhibit strong tendency towards selection of specific carotenoids at a specific rate for their metabolic absorption (Meyers and Latscha, 1997).…”