ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE October 2022 71 MINERAL AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN FISH NUTRITION “Undoubtedly significant progress on the mineral requirements of aquatic animals has been made in the past two decades; overall developments in this field of fish nutrition have been relatively slow. Many gaps still exist in the knowledge of the quantitative requirements of inorganic elements and their physiological functions in most fish. In particular, limited information has been published on trace element metabolism of aquatic organisms…” INTRODUCTION The minerals are essential chemical elements involved in the normal metabolism of fish. The information currently available is very patchy, the detailed mineral budgets are yet to be worked out and more research has to be done on the uptake, function and biological availability of many minerals. The hurdle lies in the fact that minerals are required only in trace amounts and under experimental conditions, it is difficult to maintain such minimal amounts in formulated diets, apart from keeping the medium devoid of the test element. There are also indications that the requirement and toxicity of inorganic elements may be influenced by acidic water (low pH). In feed formulations for aquatic animals, one must consider the requirement of the individual element, potential interactions with other inorganic elements and nutrients in the digestive tract and their metabolic level in various tissues, and minerals supplied from the aquatic environment, as well as the species, age, and sex of the fish. Defining the role of inorganic elements in immune response, disease prevention, and reproduction of fish is an important and interesting area of research. Fish may also have requirements for other ultra-trace elements known to be required by terrestrial animals. In recent years, vitamin E and selenium have been implicated in the prevalence of several infectious diseases. The involvement of zinc and manganese in the reproduction of fish is becoming apparent. Recent research in mineral nutrition is focused around: • Mineral requirement • Bioavailability of minerals • Mineral interaction - Mineral-mineral interaction - Mineral-nutrients (protein, lipid, carbohydrate) interaction - Mineral-vitamin interaction • Mineral & fish health Problems associated with the quantification of mineral requirements: • Identification of potential contribution of minerals from the water Amit Ranjan Assistant Professor TNJFU-Institute of Fisheries Post Graduate Studies, India
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==