Viabilidade econômica da adição de ácido ascórbico em rações para alevinos de tilápia do Nilo (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

Vitamin C has several benefits for fish, including increased immunity, which provides producers with higher yields. However, fish are unable to synthesize vitamin C, which means it needs to be added to their diet. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the economic viability of supplementing different levels of ascorbic acid in feed for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings. The experiment used a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 4 replicates, using 15 fingerlings in 50-liter aquariums, totaling 300 fingerlings with an initial weight of 2.4 g. The treatments had different levels of vitamin C supplementation in the feed, with doses of 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg.kg-1 of ascorbic acid monophosphate. The experiment lasted 14 days. The following economic variables were used for the evaluation: BT = total biomass, RB = gross revenue, COP = partial operating cost, IC = cost incidence, RLP = partial net revenue, CR = feed cost per treatment, PCR = percentage of feed cost, PCA = percentage of juvenile cost, IL = profitability index, LO = operating profit. Vitamin C did not show significant differences in the different supplementation doses. The levels of 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg, and the control diet, without the addition of vitamin C, showed negative results in the profit of the experiment, which makes the supplementation of the feed with the vitamin unprofitable for production.