Stability of crystalline and coated vitamins during manufacture and storage of fish feeds

The stability of two forms of vitamins, crystalline and fat-coated, during manufacturing processes and storage of fish feeds was investigated. After extrusion, vitamin recovery was generally lower than that found after pelleting. The recovery of coated forms after pelleting was higher than that of crystalline ones, especially for ascorbic acid, menadione, pyridoxine and folic acid. Coated forms were also found to be more resistant to extrusion than crystalline forms. No significant differences in vitamin losses during storage were found between pelleted and extruded feeds. However, losses of ascorbic acid, menadione and pyridoxine in both manufactured feeds were much greater in crystalline than in coated forms.