The effects of the addition of silymarin in feed on the growth performance, liver fat metabolism enzymes and antioxidant capacity of gifu tilapia were evaluated by the Research Institute of Scientists.
With the increase of silymarin added in the feed, the end-body mass, weight gain rate, specific growth rate and fullness of the gifu tilapia increased first and then decreased.
The addition of silymarin in the feed significantly reduced the liver-to-body and visceral-body ratios of the experimental fish. The activity of serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase decreased with the increase of silymarin level and then increased.
After adding silymarin to the feed, the triglyceride content in the serum was significantly lower than that in the control group; the lipoprotein lipase and total esterase activities in the liver were significantly higher than those in the control group; the liver lipase activity increased first and then decreased.
After adding silymarin to the feed, liver glutathione peroxidase activity was significantly higher than the control group, liver catalase activity was significantly lower than the control group; liver malondialdehyde content was significantly lower than the control group. Tilapia liver cells have clear boundaries, no nuclear shift, and fewer vacuoles.
The research and development technical team of Puye Group showed that the addition of a proper amount of silymarin in the feed improves animal growth performance, regulates liver fat metabolism enzyme activity and antioxidant capacity, and has a positive effect on preventing and treating liver cell damage.