Carotenoids Digestibility of Free Astaxanthin and Lutein by Fancy Carp (Cyprinus carprio)

Abstract

The utilization of 500 μg of astaxanthin and lutein was determined in fancy carp. Serum concentration in relation to time curves for astaxanthin and lutein were best fi tted to a one-compartment pharmacokinetic model. The results showed that after a single dose, the maximum concentration of free
astaxanthin and lutein in the serum (C max) was 54.20 and 78.40 μg.mL^-1 after 6 and 24 hr, respectively. The volume of distribution was 1,958.80 and 237.20 mL.kg^-1, total body clearance was 8.92 and 3.50 mL.hr^-1.kg^-1, and the areas under the curve were 5,300.00 and 2,082.90 μg.hr.mL^-1, respectively. These results indicated that astaxanthin was absorbed more readily than lutein in fancy carp fed on a diet of astaxanthin and lutein. There were signifi cant differences in the fecal-carotenoid contents in the samples collected from carp fed on the two carotenoid diets. The digestibility of astaxanthin and lutein was 81.05 and 70.46%, respectively. Carotenoids leaching from the diets after immersion in water revealed that the percentage loss of astaxanthin and lutein ranged between 0.69–4.68 and 0.82–10.33% of the original amounts, respectively. These values suggested that feed containing carotenoid should be consumed within 15 min in order to avoid loss of immersed carotenoid supplements.