Effects of Dietary Ascorbic Acid on Growth Performance, Body Composition, and Some Immunological Parameters of Caspian Brown Trout, Salmo trutta caspius

Abstract

AbstractA 9‐wk feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary ascorbic acid (AA) on growth performance and tissue compositions of Caspian brown trout. The fish (9.64 ± 0.62 g) were held in tanks at a density of 40 fish per tank. Five experimental diets were prepared by providing of 9.8, 43.8, 89.4, 188.5, and 384.2 mg AA equivalent/kg diet, respectively. At the end of the trial, an increasing trend was found on growth performance with the increase of AA supplementation. Fish fed diet supplemented with more than 188.5 mg/kg AA also had significantly higher bone collagen than fish fed diets containing 9.8 mg/kg AA (P < 0.05). According to the broken line, the dietary AA requirement of Caspian brown trout fingerlings was 177.24 mg AA/kg diet based on the weight gain, 186.97 mg AA/kg diet based on the protein tissue, and 163.95 mg AA/kg diet based on the bone collagen. Serum lysozyme and alternative complement pathway activities were also influenced by graded level of AA supplementation to the diet. The present research clearly indicated that AA is required for normal growth and enhancement of immune response in Caspian brown trout fingerlings.