Preparation of fish oil nanospheres for shrimp feeds

Abstract

The aim of this work is to fabricate the encapsulated fish oil particles for shrimp feed. The co-encapsuted fish oil with BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene as the antioxidant) particles size is 1.00 ± 0.74 mm prepared solvent displacement method using ethylcellulose as the polymeric material. The morphology of these particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The encapsulated fish oil-BHT particles were tested to investigate the stability properties. The results indicate that encapsulated fish oil-BHT processes better thermal stability, oxidative stability and shelf life stability than unencapsulated fish oil. Moreover, encapsulated fish oil-BHT particles were added into the shrimp feed to increase the content of unsaturation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in shrimp diet. The shrimp feeds were prepared with two different methods: 1) mixing encapsulated fish oil-BHT particle to shrimp feed paste for pelting machine before pelleting, 2) spraying encapsulated fish oil-BHT particle suspension onto the shrimp feed pellets. Both methods gave feed with minimal degradation of unsaturation functionality. In addition, Litopenaeus vannamei fed with feed containing the encapsulated fish oil-BHT particle shows better health such as, growth, weight, length and immunity index than those fed with unencapsulated fish oil containing feed.