Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

Unit 12 - Feed additives

12.1.Binders

In order to avoid disintegration of feed and dissolution in water suitable binding agents are necessary. Binders are substances used in diets to improve their pelletability, enhance their durability, preserve their physical form during storage and to preserve the water stability. In India the commonly employed binder in fish feed pellets is tapioca, wheat flour and rice flour. The other types of binders used in compounded feeds are caboxymethylcellulose (CMC), hemicellulose, bentonites, agar, carragenin and collgen. Heat treatment during diet preparation results in gelatinization of carbohydrates and thus helps in binding the resultant feed. Any binder chosen for fish feed pellets should have water stability for a minimum period of 3 hours. The binder apart from enhancing pellatability must also serve as a source carbohydrate in the feed. A binder should be inexpensive and should be easily available.