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Department of Animal Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 2A2 Canada * Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Fisheries Research Branch, West Vancouver Laboratory, 4160 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, B.C. V7V 1N6 Canada
To determine the influence of wide variations in dietary levels of calcium, zinc and phytic acid (as sodium phytate) on growth and cataract incidence, juvenile chinook salmon held at 1011°C were fed daily to satiation for 105 d one of nine purified diets containing one of three levels (grams/kilogram) of calcium (averaged 4.8, 17.7, 50.2), zinc (averaged 0.05, 0.15, 0.39) and phytic acid (1.62, 6.46, 25.8). Diets were formulated to have a calcium-phosphorus ratio of close to unity when considering phosphorus sources other than sodium phytate. High dietary phytic acid concentration (25.8 g/kg) depressed chinook salmon growth, food and protein conversion [protein efficiency ratio (PER)] and thyroid function, increased mortality, promoted cataract formation (zinc at 0.05 g/kg) and induced anomalies in pyloric cecal structure. Calcium at 51 g/kg (or phosphorus) exacerbated the effects of high dietary phytate and low dietary zinc on cataract incidence. Moreover, high dietary levels of calcium (4851 g/kg) coupled with phosphorus significantly impaired the growth and appetite of low phytic acid (1.62 g/kg) groups and led to nephrocalcinosis in low and high phytic acid groups. Plasma zinc levels were directly related to dietary zinc concentration and inversely related to dietary phytic acid level. Calcium (51 g/kg) and/or phosphorus reduced zinc bioavailability when the diet concurrently contained 0.05 g zinc and 25.8 g of phytic acid per kilogram. It is concluded that zinc is essential for normal eye development in juvenile chinook salmon. Further, zinc deficiency could not be induced in chinook salmon fed diets with high ratios of calcium (or phosphorus) to zinc alone. This required the simultaneous presence of a strong mineral (zinc)-binding agent.
KEY WORDS: chinook salmon growth cataracts nephrocalcinosis zinc calcium phytic acid phosphorus
Manuscript received 9 May 1984.
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