IIT-KGP start-up develops feed for healthier, tastier fish

A start-up incubated at the IIT Kharagpur has developed a feed which it claims to have been able to increase the size of fish in the least possible time besides enhancing its taste and nutritional quality.

The feed was produced from natural bioactive molecules and some isolated and innovated probiotics.

Named 'Mr Fish', it enhances particular amino acids and regulates the control of uniform distribution of fats and proteins in fish cells that results in improved shine, storability and taste of fish, an IIT KGP statement said Thursday.

"Most of the products in the market deal with disease control in fish farming but no product till date ensures fish taste and quality. That is why Mr Fish is such a novelty," Prof Jayanta Bhattacharya of the Department of Mining Engineering and School of Environmental Science and Engineering said.

Bhattacharya is one of the directors of Zelence, the start-up incubated at the IIT Kharagpur's Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Park, that produced the new feed.

"It increases the resistance power in fish, and enhances the quality and texture of fish by evenly distributing the fatty acid content and right amount of taste active components," Dr Bidus Kanti Das, biotechnologist and a director of Zelence said.

A fish farmer at Moyna in West Midnapore district, Pijush Kanti Bhanja, said, "All the varieties of carp in my farm have undergone a healthy increase in size."