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ABSTRACT: An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplemental dietary l-carnitine, chromium picolinate (Cr-Pic) and their combination on growth performance and serum total protein, cholesterol,
triglyceride and glucose of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). A total of 276 rainbow trout were randomly allocated to four groups. Fish (average initial body weight=151±1.69g)
were fed a basal diet without supplemental l-carnitine and chromium picolinate in the control group. The basal diet was supplemented with either 500mg/kg l-carnitine, 1.6mg/kg chromium picolinate or 500mg/kg l-carnitine plus 1.6mg/kg chromium picolinate for experimental groups1 (C), 2 (Cr-Pic) and 3 (C+Cr-Pic), respectively.
Fish were fed twice a day to apparent satiation for 58days. Weight gain, growth rate, feed consumption and feed conversion
ratio (feed/gain) were calculated for the whole period. At the end of the study, six fish were chosen randomly from each tank
to represent the experiment and frozen at −20°C for subsequent dorsal muscle analysis. The results showed no significant differences
in final body weight, weight gain or feed conversion ratio among groups. There were also no significant differences in serum
total protein, cholesterol, triglyceride or glucose concentrations among groups. Significantly higher lipid concentration
of dorsal muscle was observed in experimental groups1 and 3. In conclusion, supplemental dietary l-carnitine, chromium picolinate and their combination have no beneficial effects on improving growth performance and feed
conversion ratio in rainbow trout. However, dietary l-carnitine slightly increased lipid concentration in dorsal muscle of rainbow trout.
KeywordsChromium picolinate-
l-Carnitine-Performance-Rainbow trout
Aquaculture International 04/2012; 18(2):213-221. · 0.91 Impact Factor
