Skin and musculature carotenoid deposition
This study tested the effect of carotenoid concentration
on the pigmentation of flowerhorn fish.
Diet supplementation with carotenoids can
enhance total carotenoid content and hue in the
skin and muscle of flowerhorn fish. Total carotenoid
content accumulated in this study showed a
significant increase (P 0.01) with all diets. The
total carotenoid content value was higher in the
fish fed with FS diets than in the control and SP
diets. The highest value of total carotenoid content
was found in the FS20 diet. These results were
similar to Lee, Pham and Lee (2010) who reported
a high total carotenoid content in the skin and
muscle of pale chub fed a diet with paprika supplementation.
These authors reported that the highest
total carotenoid content was observed in fish
fed a mixed diet of 16% paprika and 8% lipids.
Correspondingly, Kop, Durmaz and Hekimoglu
(2010) found that the cichlid C. severum had a
high carotenoid content in their skin when receiving
dietary carotenoids from red pepper. Moreover,
C. severum could accumulate total carotenoid content
in their skin when fed diets containing
50 mg kg1 astaxanthin and b-carotene and
P. cruentum powder for 50 days (Kop & Durmaz
2008). Hynes, Egeland, Koppe, Baardsen and
Kiron (2009) reported that carotenoid concentration
in the muscle of Atlantic salmon was signifi-
cantly affected by its source and dietary
concentration. A positive relationship between the
amount of supplemented feeds and deposition of
carotenoids in muscle of Atlantic salmon was