Availability of Minerals in Fish Meal to Fish

Abstract

Recent investigations on mineral nutrition in fish have demonstrated that the bioavailability of minerals contained in fish meal varies among species. The bioavailability of phosphorus in fish meal appears to correlate with the presence of acidic gastric juice in the stomach, because it is low in atom.achleB& fish like common carp, and high in fish with a stomach BUch as rainbow trout. On the other hand, the bioavailability of magnesium in white fish meal to fish is very low. Since the content of trace minerals and their inorganic forms vaiy in different kinda of fish meal, their bioavailability will also vary due to the kind of fish meal. The bioavailability of zinc contained in various fish meals depends on the tricalcium phosphate content of the meal in the case of rainbow. trout. Zinc availability is lowest in white fish mea l which contains the highest level of tricalcium phosphate, and slightly better in brown fish meal which contains les tricalcium phosphate. On the other hand, the effect of tricalcium phosphate on the availability of zinc to stomachleBB fish like the common carp is less than to fish with a stomach such as the rainbow trout. The availability of manganese in fish meal is relatively high for carp and unaffected by the tricalcium phosphate levels in the fish meal.