Over the past 20 years, the world has witnessed a rapid increase in the volume of aquaculture production, which now already exceeds the volume of natural catches. As the production volume grows, the demand for high-quality and cost-effective mixed feeds increases, which cannot be produced without constant quality control of raw materials and the search and introduction of new and effective feed components with various functional properties. Such components include binding substances. The correct choice of such substances and their optimal concentrations in the production of mixed feeds is of key importance, since the invariability of the structural and mechanical characteristics of the pellets during storage of the finished product and during its further use depends on the binding substances. There is no up-to-date information on the aspects of the practical application of binders in Russian literature. This review is intended to partially fill the lack of information on this issue and can be used by specialists in the mixed feed industry.
The purpose of the review is to provide readers - employees of companies specializing in the production of mixed feed for fish with brief, but relevant and up-to-date information, reflecting current trends in two interrelated and narrowly focused, but relevant for aquaculture issues - in the purpose and the features of the practical use of binders in feed production.
The overwhelming majority of publications by foreign authors were used as literary sources when writing an article since work on improving various aspects of the use of binding substances in mixed feed for fish is currently being carried out abroad. The Russian monographs used were written by experts generally recognized in domestic aquaculture, foreign articles are registered in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, which indicates the high reliability of the information presented in them. The list of fish, echinoderm and crustacean species given in this publication corresponds to those presented in Order No. 2569-r of the Government of the Russian Federation and in the Eschmeyer's Catalogue of Fishes of California Academy of Sciences database (URL: https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research /ichthyology/catalogue/fishcatmain.asp), which is a recognized source of information for ichthyologists.