The role of a digestive enhancer in improving the growth performance, digestive enzymes activity, and health condition of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) reared under suboptimal temperature
Introduction
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is freshwater fish species that are easy to culture, resistant to disease, can live in tropical climates, and have high economic value (Amin et al., 2019; Van Doan et al., 2019). Tilapia grow well in a high water temperature ranging from 25 to 28 °C in order to be able to practice their activities naturally and thus achieve high growth rates in fewer periods (El-Sayed, 2019). However, the over or suboptimal water temperature involves many features, which usually begin with low rates of feeding (Dawood et al., 2019a). Also, the instability of temperature has an apparent effect on nutritional behaviours, which are usually followed by a complete stop of feeding and lack of demand for feed (Webster and Lim, 2001). This results in stress, which is followed by considerable physiological changes, including reduced immunity and, consequently, increased fish susceptibility to infection (Dawood et al., 2020a). In closed aquaculture systems, there is usually no problem, as temperatures can be increased by using heaters when they are low. However, in the case of the open systems, these procedures are difficult to do. Given that proper nutrition strategies are the main factor that must be managed to maintain the regular activity and health of fish, especially under stressful conditions (Sithara and Kamalaveni, 2008; Van Doan et al., 2020; Zaki et al., 2012). Moreover, the food additives that act as growth enhancers are a significant option that can be applied in such cases (Dawood et al., 2018; El-Deep et al., 2019).
Many nutritional enhancers work to raise the efficiency of nutrition in fish, including natural attractants such as taurine, as well as long and medium-chain fatty acids (Abdel-Tawwab and Monier, 2018; Carbone and Faggio, 2016; Rimoldi et al., 2018). Taurine and fatty acids are usually used in aqua-feeds as growth promotors and metabolic enhancers (Tran et al., 2018). Taurine is an essential free amino acid that is existed with high amounts in animal protein sources (e.g. fishmeal) (Abdel-Tawwab and Monier, 2018; Li et al., 2016). Taurine plays a vital role in supplying essential metabolites that are required for the synthetic reactions, osmotic regulation, detoxification processes, and nervous system function (Shen et al., 2019; Stipanuk et al., 2002). Taurine has also been reported to have marked antibacterial, immunomodulatory activity, and antioxidant proprieties in yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), Nile tilapia (O. niloticus), and grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) (Al-Feky et al., 2016a, Al-Feky et al., 2016b; Michelato et al., 2018; Shen et al., 2017; Yan et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2018). The medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), have a chain length of 6–12 carbon atoms [caproic acid (C6), caprylic acid (C8), capric acid (C10), and lauric acid (C12)], and produced via the fermentation of carbohydrates with anaerobic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of the organism (Huang et al., 2014; Lamot et al., 2016; Rimoldi et al., 2018). The produced fatty acids are mainly potentiated the beneficial microbiota to digest and absorb the nutrients through the intestinal villi and indirectly alleviate the activity of pathogenic bacteria (Dawood et al., 2020a; Hoseinifar et al., 2017). Therefore, the inclusion of MCFA enhanced the growth performance, feed efficiency, antioxidant activity, and immune responses of fish (Huang et al., 2014; Rimoldi et al., 2018).
The nutritional strategies for Nile tilapia aquaculture are well adapted under optimal water temperature. However, the nutritional practices under high or low water temperature still need more efforts in order to optimize the nutritional balance for tilapia aquaculture throughout the year. The potential roles of taurine and MCFA are associated with their growth-promoting activity which can be utilized in improving the performances of Nile tilapia. Thus, it can be stated that the use of a mixture of taurine and MCFA as a digestive/metabolic enhancer (DME) can lead to an improvement in the nutritional efficiency of fish under suboptimal temperature. Accordingly, this study aimed to evaluate the potential role of DME on Nile tilapia reared under suboptimal temperature by testing the growth rates, nutritional efficiency, and the general health status of fish.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
All the experimental procedures followed the guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Kafrelsheikh University.
Growth performance, feed utilization, and carcass composition
DME quadratically influenced the FBW, WG, SGR, FI, and FCR in a dose-dependent manner (p < .05) (Table 2). The FBW, WG, SGR, and FI were higher in fish fed DME at 1, 2, and 3 g/kg diet levels than the control; but the FCR was lower in fish fed DME at 1, 2, and 3 g/kg diet levels than the control.
The quadratic polynomial regression revealed that the optimal dose for enhancing the FBW (2.44 g/kg, Fig. 1A), WG (2.47 g/kg, Fig. 1B), SGR (2.43 g/kg, Fig. 1C), and reducing the FCR (2.36 g/kg, Fig. 1
Discussion
Several problems related to weather fluctuations have recently arisen in the ecosystem as a direct result of global warming (Dawood et al., 2020c). The stability of temperature at the optimum limits for the aquatic species is an important factor in judging the success of aquaculture (El Asely et al., 2020). Growth promotors are an ideal choice to consider (Dawood et al., 2020b; Lin and Wu, 2014; Saleh et al., 2020), especially when fish are raised under suboptimal temperature conditions. The
Conclusion
Based on the beneficial effects of DME on the growth, feed utilization, immune response, it can be concluded that the inclusion of DME is highly recommended to improve the performance of Nile tilapia under suboptimal temperature. The optimal supplementation concentration based on the obtained results is ranged from 1.83 to 2.82 g DME per kg diet.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgement
This research work was partially supported by Chiang Mai University.
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