Taraxacum mongolicum polysaccharide (TMP) exhibits anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, making it an attractive candidate for aquatic-product-safety applications. Here, this study was aimed to investigate the effects of dietary TMP on the growth, nutritional composition, antioxidant capacity, bioaccumulation and inflammation in Channa asiatica under hexavalent chromium stress. The C. asiatica was randomly distributed into five groups: The first group served as the blank control group (CK), the subsequent groups were fed TMP-supplemented feed (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/kg), respectively, and exposed to waterborne Cr6+ for 28 days. Our results indicated that the TMP effectively increased (P < 0.05) C. asiatica muscle flavour amino acid, total free amino acids, mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and EPA + DHA contents, enhanced positively antioxidant enzyme activity (GPX, SOD, CAT, T-AOC), reduced oxidative stress parameters (MDA, PC), and up-regulated antioxidant-related genes mRNA expression. Meanwhile, the appropriate amount of TMP supplementation also inhibited the bioaccumulation of Cr6+ in tissues and alleviated the inflammatory response (P < 0.05). Furthermore, sensory evaluation implied that the overall score of sashimi and cooked fillet in the 2.0 g/kg TMP group was the highest in the experimental group, second only to CK. In brief, these results elucidate that TMP-supplemented diets excellently ameliorated the growth, enriched nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity, and inhibited bioaccumulation and inflammation in C. asiatica exposed to waterborne Cr6+.
