Blood and liver concentration of ascorbic acid in Sparus aurata fed Rovimix Stay C-25

The study aimed at evaluating the ascorbic acid (AA) concentrations in the liver and blood of the Mediterranean sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) after bei ng fed Rovimix Stay C-25 (RS C-25) at three different levels (0, 200 and 80 0 mg kg(-1) of AA) over 45 days. RS C-25 is a mixture of equal parts of AA monophosphate, diphosphate and polyphosphate, containing a 25% AA equivalen t. Increasing RS C-25 levels in the diet yielded an increasing ascorbic aci d content in the plasma and liver, showing a good sea bream utilization of this source of vitamin C. Dietary Vitamin C did not affect the growth rate or feed efficiency during the 45-day experiment. After 75 days, fish fed a vitamin C-free diet displayed a severe depletion of AA in the liver.