What is it about?

Phytase is an enzyme that is often added to animal feeds to improve the availability of the essential mineral nutrient, phosphorus, from plant-based feedstuffs. Past research has shown that phytase added to catfish feeds at relatively low doses (250-500 phytase units/kg of feed) improves fish growth over plant-based diets without inorganic phosphorus supplements and can completely replace dicalcium phosphate supplementation in feeds for pond-raised channel catfish. Recently there has been interest in “super-dosing” with higher levels of phytase (2500-5000 phytase units/kg feed) to more quickly and completely break down organic phosphates in plant feedstuffs and increase the availability of nutrients needed for growth and normal physiological functions. A pond study was conducted to evaluate responses of hybrid catfish to phytase “super-dosing” of existing commercial catfish feeds.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Our results show phytase super-dosing did not have additional benefits beyond the standard phytase dose on growth, survival, feed conversion, or blood hematocrit, and also had no beneficial effects on water quality. The standard phytase dose of 500 phytase units/kg of feed remains the recommendation for feeds used for final grow-out of pond-raised hybrid catfish.

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Pond-raised Hybrid Catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus , Do Not Respond to Microbial Phytase Superdosing, Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, June 2018, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/jwas.12539.
You can read the full text:

Read

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page