DigPig

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

It is well described the effect of temperature on nutrient utilisation in fish. There is an optimal temperature range where fish performance is maximised, with deviation bellow or above affecting performance and fish final quality. One of the main challenges in Norway is the cold winter time where the water temperature can decrease significantly, lowering fish performance and affecting fish final quality. Temperature is positively correlated with gastric evacuation rate in poikilothermic animals such as fishes and as a result, at low temperatures nutrients have more time to be absorbed. However, the temperature is also positively correlated with diffusion rates and enzyme activity, which facilitates nutrient digestibility, meaning that at low temperature digestibility is also affected, overriding the posible beneficial effect of the longer gastric evacuation rate. Nonetheless, this phenomenon is also dependent of diet composition. In the present trial, it will be tested components that potentially can help improve nutrient digestibility and, consequently, fish performance and quality at low temperatures.