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Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 15951

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. M.Angeles Gallardo Romero

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Guest Editor

Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: fish digestive physiology; aquafeeds; functional diet; feeding strategies; pancreatic enzymes; digestive enzymes; fish intestinal membrane vesicles; nutrient absorption; intestinal oxidative stress; welfare management

Dr. Irene García-Meilán

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: digestive enzymes; fish nutrition; brush membrane vesicles; nutrient absorption; intestinal oxidative stress; welfare physiological parameters; health management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food-producing sector, but more than 50% of production costs are invested in feed. Smart production that includes functional feeds and the optimization of culture conditions is necessary for sustainable aquaculture. In this context, the current challenges are as follows: (1) improving the digestibility and efficiency of feed; (2) enhancing growth and improving both the quality of the final product and its safety; (3) promoting welfare and fish health; and (4) increasing the sustainability of fish farming. In this sense, there is increasing interest in testing prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, and extracts or bioactive compounds derived from plants in fish feed. Additionally, the inclusion of agricultural industry waste, as ingredients for aquafeeds, contributes to a circular economy. Finally, fish feeding strategies and sustained exercise improve animal welfare and sustainable production, these being important in optimizing fish farming conditions.

This Special Issue aims to address the applications in aquaculture of advances in both functional diets and in fish culture conditions. Key approaches may include new functional feed additives, the inclusion of vegetal bioactive extract or value-added industrial waste in diets, and fish farming conditions like feeding strategies or fish sustained swimming.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: aquafeeds, additives, dietary alternative ingredients, feed and feeding management, and welfare management.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. M.Angeles Gallardo Romero
Dr. Irene García-Meilán
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

aquafeeds
bioactive compounds
feeding strategies
fish farming conditions
fish nutrition
fish sustained swimming
fish welfare
prebiotics and probiotics
sustainability
value-added industrial waste

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1471 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phytogenic Feed Additives as a Sustainable Alternative to Antibiotics: Enhancing Growth and Disease Resistance in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

by Christina Gruber, Vladimira Ocelova, Jutta C. Kesselring and Silvia Wein

Animals 2025, 15(3), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15030380 - 28 Jan 2025

Viewed by 1060

Abstract

Pathogens and challenging conditions in fish farming are common problems that cause mortality and reduce growth performance. Phytogenic feed additives can support the immunity of fish and thereby improve performance, production, and disease resistance. Two experiments with Nile Tilapia aimed to evaluate the effects of a matrix-encapsulated phytogenic additive (Digestarom^® P.E.P. MGE) in different feed formulations, which vary in the marine meal inclusion level (5% and 12.8%), on growth performance and resistance against Streptococcus agalactiae. Fish were stocked in a recirculating aquaculture tank system per experiment and were fed with diets with or without the phytogenic supplementation for 8 weeks (six replicates per group). After an intraperitoneal injection with a sterilized saline solution and bath immersion with S. agalactiae (5 × 10⁶ CFU/mL), mortality of the fish was recorded for 20 days. Independent of the diet formulation, the supplementation with the phytogenic feed additive significantly improved the fish production; feed conversion ratio; immune response (mainly lactic acid dehydrogenase, differential blood cell counts, and the lysozyme activity in blood); and fish survival after the S. agalactiae challenge. Thus, phytogenic feed additives are promising strategies to improve Nile tilapia production by enhancing fish growth performance, health, and protection against S. agalactiae infections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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19 pages, 1214 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Effects of Tuna By-Product Meal on Growth, Whole-Body Mercury, Phosphorus Load, and Plasma Chemistry in Juvenile Greater Amberjack Seriola dumerili

by Amal Biswas, Shota Shirakawa, Satoshi Okimura, Tomoki Honryo and Hideki Tanaka

Animals 2024, 14(24), 3711; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14243711 - 23 Dec 2024

Viewed by 746

Abstract

The suitability of tuna by-product meal (TBM) as a replacement for fish meal (FM) in the diet of juvenile greater amberjack Seriola dumerili was investigated for its effect on growth, mercury (Hg) levels in the fish body, phosphorus (P) load, and plasma chemistry. FM was the main protein source in the control diet (C), and it was replaced by TBM at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% to formulate diets TM25, TM50, TM75, and TM100, respectively. The experiment was performed in triplicate, stocking 30 juveniles (mean weight: approximately 6.7 g) in each 500 L tank. After a 42 d rearing period, there were no significant differences in growth, nutrient digestibility, or productive value between diets C and TM25. However, a quadratic polynomial regression analysis suggested that the optimal dietary level of TBM against final weight was 14.5%. A significant linear correlation was observed between Hg in the diet and fish whole body, but the level was far lower, posing health risks to humans. Owing to the lower P intake of fish fed with the TBM-based diets, their P load was significantly reduced compared to the control group. Plasma levels of total protein, total cholesterol, and albumin in the TM75 and TM100 groups were significantly lower than those in the C, TM25, and TM50 groups. These results suggest that 14.5% of FM protein can be replaced by TBM protein in the diet of juvenile greater amberjack and that a significant reduction in P load can be achieved with a TBM-based diet. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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18 pages, 1298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Fish Meal-Free Diets for Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata): Integrated Biomarker Response to Assess the Effects on Growth Performance, Lipid Metabolism, Antioxidant Defense and Immunological Status

by Ana M. Fernandes, Josep Àlvar Calduch-Giner, Gabriella V. Pereira, Ana Teresa Gonçalves, Jorge Dias, Johan Johansen, Tomé Silva, Fernando Naya-Català, Carla Piazzon, Ariadna Sitjà-Bobadilla, Benjamin Costas, Luís E. C. Conceição, Jorge M. O. Fernandes and Jaume Pérez-Sánchez

Animals 2024, 14(15), 2166; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14152166 - 25 Jul 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2734

Abstract

The growth of the aquaculture industry requires more sustainable and circular economy-driven aquafeed formulas. Thus, the goal of the present study was to assess in farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) how different combinations of novel and conventional fish feed ingredients supported proper animal performance in terms of growth and physiological biomarkers of blood/liver/head kidney. A 77-day feeding trial was conducted with three experimental diets (PAP, with terrestrial processed animal protein from animal by-products; NOPAP, without processed animal protein from terrestrial animal by-products; MIX, a combination of alternative ingredients of PAP and NOPAP diets) and a commercial-type formulation (CTRL), and their effects on growth performance and markers of endocrine growth regulation, lipid metabolism, antioxidant defense and inflammatory condition were assessed at circulatory and tissue level (liver, head kidney). Growth performance was similar among all dietary treatments. However, fish fed the PAP diet displayed a lower feed conversion and protein efficiency, with intermediate values in MIX-fed fish. Such gradual variation in growth performance was supported by different biomarker signatures that delineated a lower risk of oxidation and inflammatory condition in NOPAP fish, in concurrence with an enhanced hepatic lipogenesis that did not represent a risk of lipoid liver degeneration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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15 pages, 2387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Nutritional Tea Polyphenols on Growth, Feed Efficiency, Biochemical Traits, Antioxidant Capacity, Haematological Parameters and Immunity in Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

by Hairui Yu, Govindharajan Sattanathan, Leyong Yu, Lingyao Li and Yufang Xiao

Animals 2024, 14(14), 2104; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14142104 - 18 Jul 2024

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1880

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of nutritional tea polyphenols (TPs) on body composition, growth, biochemical markers, antioxidant capacity, and hemato-immunological levels, a ten-week feeding experiment was carried out on coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch, 180.51 ± 0.15 g). The control group was fed a basal diet; the T1, T2, T3, and T4 groups were fed 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.04% TPs, respectively. These results demonstrate that adding TPs significantly (p < 0.05) increased the coho salmon fish’s weight gain (WG), relative growth rate (RGR), condition factor (CF), feed efficacy (FE), daily growth rate (DGR), and specific growth rate (SGR). There was no discernible difference in the body compositions of the treated TPs and the control group (p > 0.05). In addition, the T3 group showed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in GPT, LDL, HDL, TC, and CAT. Fish given a 0.02% diet containing TPs had significantly lower levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) in their liver; yet, the TP-treated groups had higher levels of SOD and CAT than the control (p < 0.05). The data analysis shows a significant rise in lysozyme, respiratory burst activity, bactericidal activity, and blood hematological parameters in the 0.01–0.04% TP groups. According to these findings, TPs could be a useful dietary supplement for raising the antioxidant status, growth parameters, haemato-immunological response, and whole-body composition of coho salmon fish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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16 pages, 2207 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Five Dietary Carbohydrate Sources on Growth, Glucose Metabolism, Antioxidant Capacity and Immunity of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

by Pengcheng Qian, Yan Liu, Hao Zhang, Penghui Zhang, Yuanyuan Xie and Chenglong Wu

Animals 2024, 14(10), 1492; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14101492 - 17 May 2024

Viewed by 1666

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of glucose (GLU), tapioca starch (TS), gelatinized tapioca starch (GTS), potato starch (PS) and gelatinized potato starch (GPS) on growth and physiological responses in juvenile largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. After 8 weeks, fish fed with starch diets had better weight gain and growth rates. Counts of red blood cells and monocytes were increased in the PS and GPS groups, compared to GLU group. Contents of serum triglyceride and total cholesterol were markedly elevated in the TS, PS and GPS groups. There were lower levels of serum glucose, insulin and cholecystokinin, and higher agouti-related peptide contents in the PS group compared to GLU group. PS and GPS could enhance glycolysis and TCA cycle by increasing their enzyme activities and transcriptional levels. Additionally, starch sources markedly heightened mRNA levels of key genes involved in the respiratory electron transport chain. Additionally, elevated mRNA levels of key antioxidant genes were shown in the TS and GTS groups. Moreover, TS and PS could promote immunity by upregulating transcriptional levels of the complement system, lysozyme and hepcidin. Taken together, starch exhibited better growth via increasing glycolysis and TCA cycle compared with GLU, and PS could improve antioxidant and immune capacities in largemouth bass. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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26 pages, 11008 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Supplementation of Berberine in High-Carbohydrate Diets Improves Glucose Metabolism of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) via Transcriptome, Bile Acid Synthesis Gene Expression and Intestinal Flora

by Hongyu Liu, Menglin Wei, Beiping Tan, Xiaohui Dong and Shiwei Xie

Animals 2024, 14(8), 1239; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14081239 - 20 Apr 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2301

Abstract

Berberine is an alkaloid used to treat diabetes. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of berberine supplementation in high-carbohydrate diets on the growth performance, glucose metabolism, bile acid synthesis, liver transcriptome, and intestinal flora of Nile tilapia. The six dietary groups were the C group with 29% carbohydrate, the H group with 44% carbohydrate, and the HB1-HB4 groups supplemented with 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/kg of berberine in group H. The results of the 8-week trial showed that compared to group C, the abundance of Bacteroidetes was increased in group HB2 (p < 0.05). The cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) and sterol-27-hydroxylase (CYP27A1) activities were decreased and the expression of FXR was increased in group HB4 (p < 0.05). The pyruvate carboxylase (PC) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activities was decreased in group HB4 (p < 0.05). The liver transcriptome suggests that berberine affects carbohydrate metabolic pathways and primary bile acid synthesis pathways. In summary, berberine affects the glucose metabolism in tilapia by altering the intestinal flora structure, enriching differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the bile acid pathway to stimulate bile acid production so that it promotes glycolysis and inhibits gluconeogenesis. Therefore, 100 mg/kg of berberine supplementation in high-carbohydrate diets is beneficial to tilapia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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14 pages, 791 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nutrient and Energy Apparent Digestibility of Protein-Based Feed Ingredients and Effect of the Dietary Factors on Growth Performance and Feed Utilization of Sobaity Seabream, Sparidentex hasta

by Seemab Zehra, Joseph Leopoldo Q. Laranja, Aboobucker Siddik Abulkasim, Reda Saleh, Paulo H. De Mello, Edoardo Pantanella, Jorge Alarcon, Abdulaziz M. Al-Suwailem, A. Al Shaikhi, Brett D. Glencross and Asaad H. W. Mohamed

Animals 2024, 14(6), 933; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14060933 - 18 Mar 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2080

Abstract

Two separate feeding trials were undertaken to benchmark a series of commercial diets and determine the nutrient and energy apparent digestibility coefficients of a variety of protein-based feed ingredients when fed to sobaity seabream, Sparidentex hasta. In Experiment 1, triplicate groups of fish (initial body weight: 330.5 ± 2.6 g) were fed with one of three locally available diets containing crude protein (CP) levels ranging from 44 to 46% of dry matter (DM), each with ~12% crude fat. Fish grew at around 3.2 g day⁻¹ with a specific growth rate (SGR) of 0.7% day⁻¹. Both the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were significantly better in fish fed diets, which contained the highest (46.4%) crude protein level. Overall, the data from these preliminary studies suggest that the best performance by sobaity seabream was obtained with a diet containing 46% crude protein, 20 MJ/kg, and a protein-to-energy ratio of 23 mg/kJ. In Experiment 2, fish with an initial body weight of 319 ± 7 g were held in 11 tanks and fed reference (D1) and test diets (D2–D11) for 7 days before fecal collection. This process was repeated twice in a blocking arrangement to generate three replicates. Each of the ten test diets contained 30% of a test ingredient, with the remaining 70% proportionally identical to the D1 diet. Diet apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) were measured, and the diet ADCs were then used to derive the protein and energy ADCs for the individual test ingredients. Ingredient protein ADC ranged between 75.5 and 93.9%, while ingredient energy ADC ranged between 66.8 and 81.2%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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12 pages, 1087 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Postbiotic Product Based on Weissella cibaria for Enhancing Disease Resistance in Rainbow Trout: Aquaculture Application

by Mario Quintanilla-Pineda, Francisco C. Ibañez, Chajira Garrote-Achou and Florencio Marzo

Animals 2024, 14(5), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14050744 - 27 Feb 2024

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2190

Abstract

Postbiotics are innovative tools in animal husbandry, providing eco-friendly solutions for disease management within the industry. In this study, a new postbiotic product was evaluated for its impact on the health of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In vivo studies were conducted to assess the safety of the Weissella cibaria strains used in postbiotic production. Additionally, this study evaluated the impact of diet supplementation with 0.50% postbiotics on growth performance during a 30-day feeding trial; the gut microbial communities, immunomodulation, and protection against Yersinia ruckeri infection were evaluated. The strains did not harm the animals during the 20-day observation period. Furthermore, the effect of postbiotics on growth performance was not significant (p < 0.05). The treated group showed a significant increase in acid-lactic bacteria on the 30th day of the feeding trial, with counts of 3.42 ± 0.21 log CFU/mL. Additionally, there was an up-regulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β in head kidney samples after 48 h of feed supplementation, whereas cytokines IL-10, IL-8, INF-γ, and TNF-α were down-regulated. The findings indicate that rainbow trout fed with postbiotics saw an improvement in their survival rate against Y. ruckeri, with a 20.66% survival improvement in the treated group. This study proves that incorporating postbiotics from two strains of W. cibaria previously isolated from rainbow trout into the diet of fish has immunomodulatory effects, enhances intestinal microbial composition, and improves fish resistance against Y. ruckeri. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Functional Diets and Culture Conditions in Fish: Applications in Aquaculture)

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