Recent progress in practical applications of a potential carotenoid astaxanthin in aquaculture industry: a review.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing in vitro and animal studies without systematic review methodology
PubMed 36607534 · doi:10.1007/s10695-022-01167-0
What was done
Narrative review synthesizing published in vitro and in vivo scientific literature on the practical applications, biological functions, and mechanisms of astaxanthin from natural and synthetic sources as a functional feed additive in aquaculture.
What was found
The abstract states astaxanthin has higher oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) than vitamin E (reported as over 500 times more effective) and other carotenoids (lutein, lycopene). Across the reviewed literature, astaxanthin supplementation improves stress tolerance, disease resistance, growth performance, survival, egg quality, and tissue pigmentation in farmed fish and crustaceans without cytotoxic effects. No quantitative pooled effect sizes, statistical metrics, or exact study counts were provided in the abstract.
Why it matters
It collates evidence on astaxanthin's dual role as both a commercial pigmenting agent and a health-promoting functional feed supplement for farmed fish and crustaceans.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search protocol, formal quality appraisal, and meta-analytic synthesis. The abstract provides no primary data, sample sizes, or numerical effect sizes, and findings are restricted to aquatic animal models and in vitro systems.
Cited by
- supports Astaxanthin is a carotenoid pigment responsible for giving salmon its pink coloration.