Comparative Study on Total Chlorophyll, Carotenoid, Fucoxanthin in Seaweeds Ulva reticulata, Sargassum ilicifolium and Gracilaria multipartita and Colour Enhancing Commercial Ornamental Fish Feeds

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Date
2019-02
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Seaweeds are photosynthetic marine macro algae, contain various natural colour pigments. Considering high bioavailability and low cost of processing, this study aimed on evaluating the potential of using seaweeds as a feed additive for colour enhancement of ornamental fish compared to commercial colour enhancing ornamental fish feeds by assessing three types of pigments. Three algae species (green algae-Ulva reticulata, brown algae-Sargassum ilicifolium and red algae-Gracilaria multipartita) were collected from Dickwella area. Pigments were extracted into 10 ml of 99% acetone from sun-dried algae and from 3 types of commercial feeds having green, brown and red colours. Total chlorophyll, carotenoid and fucoxanthin content of seaweeds and commercial feeds were quantified using UV spectrophotometer. Non-normally distributed data were analyzed by Kruskal Wallis test in Minitab version 17 at 0.05 significant level. Highest total chlorophyll content was observed in U. reticulata (70.50±0.39 µg g-1) & S. ilicifolium (59.53±4.34 µg g-1) and it was significantly different from their respective colour feeds (green 4.57±1.63 µg g-1 and brown 7.69±5.56 µg g-1). Similarly, U. reticulata and S. ilicifolium had significantly different carotenoid content (1.44±0.16, 2.11±0.07 µg g-1) compared to their respective colour feeds (green 0.22±0.09 µg g-1 & brown 0.21±0.07 µg g-1). Chlorophyll & carotenoid content had no significant difference between G. multipartita and its respective red colour feed. Fucoxanthin content was also higher in seaweeds (U. reticulata 2.12±0.89 µg g-1, S. ilicifolium 4.69±3.05 µg g-1 and G. multipartita 1.52±0.82 µg g-1) than three commercial feeds (green 1.82±1.81 µg g-1, brown 0.53±0.33 µg g-1 & red 0.49±0.06 µg g-1) with no significant difference. Results indicate that sun-dried seaweeds contained comparatively high level of pigments studied; the selected sea weeds may be taken as an effective feed additive for the colour enhancement of ornamental fish.
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Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries
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