What goes into making good fish food?

Did you know that a lot of science goes into producing fish food? In some of my older posts (written by Ms Jessie Poon), you can gauge that there are lots to think about. Some have better nutritional values than others. Some pollute the tank less. The article below talks about certain aspects of feed as it relates to feeding crayfish.

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Aquaculture Volume 325, Number 9 (January 2012) Manufacturing pellets with different binders: Effect on water stability and feeding response in juvenile Cherax albidus Authors: M.G. Volpe, E. Varricchio, E. Coccia, G. Santagata, M. Di Stasio, M. Malinconico, M. Paolucci Author Affiliations:

Source: Aquaculture, Volume 325, Number 9 (January 2012) Page Numbers: 104 – 110 Available Full Text:

Abstract: In this study, we used natural polysaccharides (pectin, alginate and chitosan) as binders to generate pellets for crayfish feeding. Pellets were produced by cold extrusion in order to preserve nutrients from degradation and reduce energy consumption. Thereafter, pellets were submitted to a coating procedure, with the aim of improving pellet stability in water. Pellet water stability was analyzed by monitoring the diameter of the released particles in water over progressive time intervals up to 24h, employing a Low Angle Laser Light Scattering Technique. Alginate containing pellets released particles with a smaller diameter than chitosan and pectin containing pellets, indicating that alginate containing pellets disaggregated more and therefore were less stable in water than the other pellet types. The effects of the different polysaccharide containing pellets were evaluated on crayfish feeding response employing juvenile Cherax albidus. The feeding experiment was carried out for 12weeks, at the end of which growth parameters and the activity of amylase, lipases and proteases in the gastric juice, hepatopancreas and intestine were recorded. Crayfish fed pectin containing pellets exhibited a significant weight gain. Digestive enzyme activities did not statistically show significant differences in the digestive tract except for amylase that was significantly higher in the intestine of animals fed pectin containing pellets. Our data indicate that pectin and chitosan pellets showed the best water stability performances, moreover pectin pellets brought about the highest body weight gain and affected the amylase profile in the intestine of juvenile Cherax albidus. Citation: M.G. Volpe, E. Varricchio, E. Coccia, G. Santagata, M. Di Stasio, M. Malinconico, M. Paolucci . Manufacturing pellets with different binders: Effect on water stability and feeding response in juvenile Cherax albidus. Aquaculture, Volume 325, Number 9 (January 2012), pp. 104-110, URL: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4DC0A53FB285FB8A145B