Impact of dietary Selenium nanoparticles on the fillet composition and antioxidant status of Cirrhinus mrigala

Oxidative stress affects fish health and poses, significant harm to fish growth and fish physiology in aquaculture when fish are cultured in intensive farming. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) act as a potential antioxidant in their optimal range, but their effect on the growth and health of Cirrhinus mrigala remains unexplored. The study aims to determine the impact of selenium nanoparticles on fish growth, tissue composition and antioxidant effect on Cirrhinus mrigala for sustainable aquaculture activities. The fish were kept in 15 fiberglass tanks each containing 20 fish per tank weighing 7g each fish. Fish were fed with five kinds of experimental diet of selenium nanoparticle (Se-NPs) twice daily concentration of control (0 mg/kg) to 0.25 mg/kg Se-NPs, 0.5 mg/kg Se-NPs, 1 mg/kg Se-NPs and 2 mg/kg Se-NPs groups with 3% of body weight. The growth metrics, biochemical analysis (SOD, GPx, CAT, MDA and TBARS assays) and proximate composition of the muscles were performed using AOAC standard methods. The proximate compositions of C. mrigala, including moisture, crude protein, crude fat, and ash, were not affected by the dietary SeNPs after 90 days of culture. However, the highest level of moisture (76.87) was observed in T1, crude protein was maximum in T5 (17.63±0.26), crude fat content was high in the T1 diet comprising of 13.62±0.33 value, and crude ash was highest in the control diet (1.78±0.11). Results show that 1 mg Se-NPs/kg increase the growth rate (p<0.05), increase the antioxidant activities (SOD: 5.84±0.12, CAT: 64.29±0.25) and decreases the MDA level by 8.5% resulted in decreased in antioxidant stress. This study concludes that 1 mg SeNPs/kg is beneficial for fish growth and antioxidant defense in its optimum range in Cirrhinus mrigala without causing any damage to muscle quality. The study is beneficial for making health-promoting aquafeed and meet the sustainable aquaculture practices.