Sodium humate is black in appearance, has strong water retention and adsorption, and can form complexes with many compounds. In aquaculture, its main function is to promote growth, prevent and treat diseases, and it is a feed additive that can replace antibiotics. In the following content, we will explain the role and function of sodium humate in aquaculture from four perspectives.
1. Improve feed conversion and promote animal growth
Sodium humate contains a variety of nutrients such as amino acids, trace elements and vitamins, and natural active ingredients such as inositol and polysaccharides. It can directly participate in the body’s metabolism, promote animal gland secretion, activate the activity of various enzymes in the body, change the permeability of cell membranes, increase the food intake of aquatic animals and the absorption and utilization of nutrients, improve feed conversion, promote growth and development, and increase breeding output.
2. Enhance the body’s immunity, prevent and treat diseases
First, sodium humate can induce the body to produce interferon, activate the reticuloendothelial system, enhance nonspecific immunity, and produce strong immunity to pathogenic microorganisms; it can activate the mononuclear macrophage system, increase the number of white blood cells and phagocyte activity, and enlarge the thymus, which has an immunostimulatory effect, can improve the ability to resist stress, and prevent and treat bacterial and viral diseases. Secondly, sodium humate has strong adsorption and complexation properties, and can effectively adsorb various toxic and harmful substances produced in the feed and digestive tract digestion and metabolism, such as amines and hydrogen sulfide, which is beneficial to animal health, and can reduce the emission of harmful substances and purify the aquaculture environment. Third, the colloidal properties and various active groups of sodium humate have the effects of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, hemostasis and astringency, decomposition and muscle growth, and promotion of metabolism. Therefore, sodium humate can be used as a substitute for antibacterial drugs to prevent and treat some bacterial diseases of aquatic animals (such as bacterial enteritis, abalone rot, tail rot, etc.).
This article ends here. The remaining two points about the role of sodium humate in aquaculture will be shared with you in the next article “Four perspectives explaining the role and function of sodium humate in aquaculture (Part 2)”.