Aquasoja developed a nutritional solution for red porgy, PAGRUS, designed to meet the nutritional requirements of red porgy, and that contains natural and synthetic pigments to obtain the desired skin color. 

Besides synthetic astaxanthin, PAGRUS includes vegetable and marine ingredients that are natural providers of yellow to red pigments, such as, alfalfa protein concentrate, corn gluten, shrimp hydrolysate or squid meal.

In addition, PAGRUS formula consists of around 60% of animal ingredients, half of it belonging to marine sustainable sources. This formulation approach turns PAGRUS into an extremely palatable feed, containing high-quality essential nutrients, rich in antioxidants and a source of different pigments for red porgy.     

To obtain the desired commercial color, the company recommends feeds with high levels of pigments, like PAGRUS, throughout the ongrowing phase of the red porgy to attain the best pigment deposition in the skin. Despite the fact feeds play a crucial role in the skin's final look of this fish species, it is worth noting that the species itself (e.g. Pagrus pagrus vs. Pagrus major), stress (density, sunlight) or harvest conditions may affect skin coloration.