GROWTH PROMOTION EFFICACY OF GOLD NANOPARTICLES SUPPLEMENTATION DIET IN OREOCHROMIS MOSSAMBICUSF. Shine, S.T. Shibu Joseph, A. Akhila Thomas and Dhanya RajAbstract Nutritionally balanced aquafeed is the crucial input for the successful fish production. Currently nanotechnology paves a way to progression of high performing fish. Nanotechnology can be applied for developing high nutrient feeds. Among all metal nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been considered to be highly useful platform for the efficient carrier system due to their well studied synthesis, easy surface functionalization, biocompatibility and less toxicity. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of gold nanoparticulated diet on the growth of Oreochromis mossambicus. Special attention was given to the effect of the AuNP with different surface chemistries on the aquaculture candidate by synthesizing AuNP in two different routes, chemical (sodium borohydride reduction method-AuNP), and green synthesis (using aqueous extract of Emblica officinalis fruit extract-EOAuNP). Prior to exposure experiment of AuNP and EOAuNP on Oreochromis mossambicus, the physicochemical properties of the Au colloids are studied using Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis spectroscopy) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) studies. In vivo charecterization of NPs internalized in hepatic tissue of Oreochromis mossambicus reared on AuNP and EOAuNP supplemented diet were done using TEM studies. The weight gain (WG%), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed efficiency rate (FER) of the test candidate were assessed. It was observed that low concentrations of added EOAuNP to fish feed achieved WG%, SGR, FER more than the conventional Emblica officinalis extract (1ml/100 g). Significant reduction (p<0.05) in feed conversion ratio (FCR ) with the increase in specific growth rate was also observed. Supplementation of AuNP registered retrogressive growth in the test candidate. The results suggest that EOAuNP could be used as a promising feed additive in aquaculture. |