Comparative Net Absorption of Chelated and Inorganic Trace Minerals in Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus Diets

Abstract

AbstractCoefficients of net absorption for copper, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc were determined for chelated sources (copper proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, selenium proteinate, zinc proteinate) and inorganic sources (copper sulfate pentahydrate, ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, manganese sulfate monohydrate, sodium selenite, zinc sulfate hep‐tahydrate) of these elements with channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Fish weighing approximately 60 g were placed into 40‐L aquaria (12 fish/aquarium) at a temperature of 28 f 2 C and fed either an egg white‐based, purified diet or a soybean meal‐based, practical diet with and without the test mineral sources for 6 wk then killed and feces collected from the hindgut. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Absorption coefficients for the elements in the basal and mineral supplemented diets were calculated by the indirect indicator (chromic oxide) method and corrected for residual amounts of element in the basal diets. Net absorption of the chelated minerals was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than net absorption of the inorganic minerals in both basal diets. Average percentage improvement in net absorption of chelated minerals over inorganic minerals was 39.3% in the purified diets and 81.1% in the practical diets. These results may indicate that appreciably lower amounts of chelated trace minerals than inorganic trace minerals can be used as supplements in catfish feeds.