Muscle Pigmentation of Rainbow Trout(Oncorhynchus mykiss)Fed on Oil-Extracted Pigment from Langostilla(Pleuroncodes planipes)Compared with Two Commercial Sources of Astaxanthin

A comparative study of flesh pigmentation efficiency of oil-extracted astaxanthin from langostilla (Pleumncodes planipes) a red yeast (Phaffia rhodozyma) and synthetic astaxanthin (Caro-phyll pink) on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was conducted. Fish (218 ± 7 g) were allocated into three experimental groups (fed diets with 75 mg of carotenoid per kg of feed) and one control group. Weights, flesh carotenoid content, and tristimulus color values were measured at 0, 3, and 6 weeks. Pigmentation efficiencies of the diet supplemented with the langostilla carotenoid and with the yeast astaxanthin were similar (P > 0.05), while the efficiency of synthetic astaxanthin was higher (P <0.05). In spite of its high esterified astaxanthin content, supplemented diet with the langostilla carotenoid produced good flesh pigmentation parameters in six weeks: astaxanthin deposition (3.67 ± 0.7 mg/kg,w/w), hue (43.99 ± 2.3), and pigmentation efficiency (5.65 mg/kg BWI).