Effects of Dietary Nanochitosan-Encapsulated Vitamin C on Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, and Carcass Composition of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Fisheries, SR.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Animal Science, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran

3 Department of Chemistry, VaP.C., Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran

10.22124/janb.2026.34936.1319

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of dietary inclusion levels of nanochitosan-encapsulated vitamin C (NC–VitC) on growth performance, feed efficiency, survival, and carcass proximate composition in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Five experimental diets were formulated, comprising a control diet (0 mg/kg) and four diets supplemented with 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg NC–VitC/kg diet. Juvenile fish (initial mean body weight: 30 ± 1 g) were fed the experimental diets across triplicate tanks for 68 days. Supplemented dietary treatments yielded significantly higher final body weights compared to the control. The highest mean final weight was attained in the 200 mg/kg group, whereas the highest whole-body crude protein along with the lowest crude lipid content was observed at 100 mg/kg. Survival ranged from 88.33% to 96.67%, with no statistically significant differences detected among treatments in the primary analysis (P > 0.05). Determining the optimum dosage and drawing definitive inferences regarding feed efficiency and carcass composition remain contingent upon cross-reconciling tank-level data, feed intake calculation baselines, and proximate laboratory assays. Furthermore, in the absence of validated parallel comparisons with unencapsulated (free) ascorbic acid and bare chitosan, the independent bioactivity of the polymer carrier cannot be decoupled from encapsulation synergy in this study.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Aquatic Animals Nutrition

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 20 September 2026

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics