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Fishes
Special Issues
Growth, Metabolism, and Flesh Quality in Aquaculture Nutrition
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Growth, Metabolism, and Flesh Quality in Aquaculture Nutrition

A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Feeding".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 May 2025 | Viewed by 3080

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hang Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201403, China
Interests: aquaculture; nutrition; growth; metabolism; flesh quality
Prof. Dr. Xugan Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Aquaculture Nutrition and Feed, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Interests: Aquaculture nutrition and feed; reproductive physiology of crustacean; genetic resource and breeding of crabs; nutrients metabolism of crustacean; hatchery and culture technology of crabs; rice-fish integrated culture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the aquaculture industry has rapidly developed, and aquatic nutrition has played an important role. At present, however, the relationships between a large number of aquatic species and various nutrients remain unclear. In order to improve the growth, digestion, intestinal health, and flesh quality of aquatic animals, the use of feed additives, such as bioactive components, probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, and medicinal plants, is becoming more common. Additionally, with the general shortage of fishmeal, a large number of new protein sources in diets have been developed and gradually used in aquatic animals. Nonetheless, there have been limited reports of research on the growth, metabolism, and flesh quality of aquatic animals after the replacement of fishmeal. For this Special Issue, we will collect studies (original research articles, perspectives, reviews, and mini-reviews) that focus on growth, metabolism, and flesh quality in aquaculture nutrition.

Scope and Information for authors

We welcome contributions that address or explore topics including, but not limited to, the following:

-Evaluation of diet supplementation strategies to influence animal performance, metabolism, health, and/or flesh quality;

-Identification of various dietary additives that influence attractiveness, metabolism, growth, and/or reproduction;

-Determination of dietary and metabolic requirements for various nutrients among different aquatic species;

-Evaluation of novel or established feedstuffs with digestibility and growth trials;

-Applications of omics in aquaculture nutrition;

-Optimization of diet formulations.

Dr. Hang Yang
Prof. Dr. Xugan Wu
Guest Editors

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. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutrients
  • additives
  • medicinal plants
  • new protein sources
  • growth
  • metabolism
  • flesh quality

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 667 KiB  
Article
A Comparison of White Muscle Quality in Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idellus Fed with Commercial Feeds and Barley Malt
by Chongjiang Hu, Zheng Huang, Hongkang Liu, Dingrui Mo, Peng Fu, Haiyan Guo, Wei Jiang, Yong Xie and Yongjun Chen
Fishes 2025, 10(4), 185; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10040185 - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 158
Abstract
This study was the first report regarding the application of barley malt (BM) for diets of aquaculture species. Triplicate groups of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idellus with an initial size of about 1.2 kg were selected and fed with either BM or commercial feed [...] Read more.
This study was the first report regarding the application of barley malt (BM) for diets of aquaculture species. Triplicate groups of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idellus with an initial size of about 1.2 kg were selected and fed with either BM or commercial feed (CF) to apparent satiation for 8 weeks in outdoor ponds connected with a flow-through aquaculture system. The results showed that the final body weight (1651 g) was lower in the BM fish than in the CF fish (1791 g). The edible part was lower in the BM fish than in the CF fish as indicated by the viscerosomatic index. Except for ash levels, which were lower in the fillet of the BM fish than for that of the CF fish, moisture, protein, and lipid levels were not impacted by the application of BM. Water-holding capacity indicators (drop loss, frozen exudation rate, and cooking loss) of grass carp muscle were not relevant to dietary modifications. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining showed that the diameter of the myofibers was decreased while density was increased in response to the application of BM, which contributed to the improvement in textural properties (hardness, gumminess, and chewiness) in the muscle of the BM fish as compared to the CF fish. Glutamic acid level was highest, followed by aspartic acid, lysine, leucine, alanine, and arginine in grass carp muscle. Except three amino acids (proline, phenylalanine, and histidine), the amounts of the other 15 amino acids, essential amino acids, semi-essential amino acids, nonessential amino acids, and delicious amino acids were not impacted by different treatments, suggesting that the application of BM had a minor effect on the amino acid composition of grass carp muscle. Oleic acid (C18:1n-9), linoleic acid (C18:2n-6), and palmitic acid (C16:0) were the most abundant fatty acids in grass carp muscle. The amounts of poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the muscle decreased in response to the application of BM as the diet of grass carp, and n-6 PUFAs (C18:2n-6 and C20:2n-6) rather than n-3 PUFAs accounted for this change, which is beneficial for human health. In conclusion, the application of BM had minor impacts on the proximate composition and amino acid composition but improved textural properties and decreased n-6 PUFAs in the fillet of grass carp. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Metabolism, and Flesh Quality in Aquaculture Nutrition)
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19 pages, 12747 KiB  
Article
Impact of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Diet and Subsequent Withdrawal on GIFT Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Muscle Quality
by Guanling Xu, Wei Xing, Tieliang Li, Shibo Wei, Ying Zhang, Tingting Song, Huanhuan Yu and Lin Luo
Fishes 2025, 10(4), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10040170 - 11 Apr 2025
Viewed by 283
Abstract
To systematically evaluate FB’s effects on tilapia muscle quality, two distinct experimental phases are designed, the crispy texture development phase (0–16 weeks) and the crispy texture retention phase (17–24 weeks), which can determine the minimum faba bean (FB) feeding duration required to achieve [...] Read more.
To systematically evaluate FB’s effects on tilapia muscle quality, two distinct experimental phases are designed, the crispy texture development phase (0–16 weeks) and the crispy texture retention phase (17–24 weeks), which can determine the minimum faba bean (FB) feeding duration required to achieve optimal textural modification and can assess the persistence of improved textural properties following FB withdrawal, respectively. The results demonstrated that a 60% FB inclusion diet administered for 16 weeks did not adversely affect tilapia growth performance. Significant improvements in textural parameters, including hardness, springiness, chewiness, and shear force, were observed in FB-fed tilapia as early as 8 weeks, with these enhancements being maintained throughout the 16-week feeding period. These superior textural characteristics persisted during the subsequent retention phase following FB withdrawal. Microstructural analysis revealed that the 60% FB diet significantly enhanced muscle-fiber density while reducing fiber diameter in tilapia during the 8–16 week feeding period. These microstructural modifications persisted throughout the texture retention phase, maintaining significant differences compared to the control group. Serological analysis demonstrated the FB group elevated Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels at 4 weeks, though these differences normalized thereafter. qRT-PCR showed the 60% FB clearly increased the expression of mstn at 8 weeks, while col1a-2 and myog expressions also obviously improved at 12 weeks. In summary, dietary 60% FB improved tilapia muscle crispiness by altering texture and microstructure via gene-expression regulation. The minimum duration was 8 weeks to achieve crispiness in tilapia by the 60% FB diet without adverse effects on growth, immunity, and hepatopancreas function. Furthermore, the crispy texture of tilapia fillets was maintained for at least 2 months following withdrawal of the 60% FB diet after 16 weeks of continuous feeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Metabolism, and Flesh Quality in Aquaculture Nutrition)
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10 pages, 639 KiB  
Article
Effects of Dietary Chlorogenic Acid on the Growth, Lipid Metabolism, Antioxidant Capacity, and Non-Specific Immunity of Asian Swamp Eel (Monopterus albus)
by Hang Yang, Chengcheng Wu, Quan Yuan, Weiwei Lv, Junqiang Qiu, Mingyou Li, Qinghua Zhang and Wenzong Zhou
Fishes 2024, 9(12), 496; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9120496 - 3 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1021
Abstract
To investigate the dietary effects of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on the growth performance, lipid metabolism, antioxidant activity, and non-specific immunity of Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus) during the domestication stage, a 28-day feeding experiment was conducted to supplement with CGA at [...] Read more.
To investigate the dietary effects of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on the growth performance, lipid metabolism, antioxidant activity, and non-specific immunity of Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus) during the domestication stage, a 28-day feeding experiment was conducted to supplement with CGA at levels of 0 (Cont.), 250 (CGA 0.50%), 500 (CGA 1.00%), and 750 (CGA 1.50%) mg/kg·bw by feeding with yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor). Compared with the control group, the addition of 250–750 mg/kg of CGA significantly increased the weight-gain rate (WG) of M. albus, and the CGA 1.0% group displayed the highest value. The content of hemoglobin and high-density lipoprotein in all CGA groups was markedly elevated (p < 0.05), while the triglyceride, glucose, low-density lipoprotein, and glycosylated serum protein levels were lowered (p < 0.05). Among the antioxidant enzymes, the glutathione peroxidase and catalase activity was significantly higher in all experimental groups than that of the control group, whereas the malondialdehyde activity was significantly reduced (p < 0.05). For a non-specific immune enzyme system, the lysozyme and alkaline phosphatase activity in all treatments and the superoxide dismutase and acid phosphatase activity in the CGA 0.5% group was markedly increased (p < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementation with CGA can enhance the growth performance and improve the lipid metabolism, antioxidant capacity, and non-specific immunity of M. albus during the domestication stage, and the optimal CGA supplementation for T. molitor as biocarrier bait is 500 mg/kg, corresponding to 405 mg/kg. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Metabolism, and Flesh Quality in Aquaculture Nutrition)
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15 pages, 474 KiB  
Article
Effects of Carnosine Addition in Low-Fishmeal Feed on the Growth Performance, Muscle Antioxidant Capacity and Flesh Quality of Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)
by Dong Li, Weijun Chen, Yanxia Yin, Lulu Yang, Mingfan Chen, Yunzhang Sun and Jidan Ye
Fishes 2024, 9(11), 467; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9110467 - 18 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 988
Abstract
Carnosine is a natural dipeptide made up of L-histidine and β-alanine which is rich in muscle tissues and has multiple physiological functions. The current research aimed to investigate the effects of varied carnosine concentrations in low-fishmeal feed on the growth, muscle antioxidant capacity [...] Read more.
Carnosine is a natural dipeptide made up of L-histidine and β-alanine which is rich in muscle tissues and has multiple physiological functions. The current research aimed to investigate the effects of varied carnosine concentrations in low-fishmeal feed on the growth, muscle antioxidant capacity and flesh quality of orange-spotted grouper. Carnosine was supplemented at doses of 0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, and 320 mg/kg in low-fishmeal feed. Seven groups with three tanks of fish (11.4 ± 0.1 g/fish) were allotted one of the diets during the 8-week feeding trial. The growth rate, body protein content, muscle activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase, and muscle adhesiveness showed positive linear response and/or an open upward parabola with increasing carnosine concentrations, with a peak at 160 mg/kg of carnosine. Feed utilization, serum total protein content, gut trypsin activity, muscle glutathione peroxidase, total antioxidant capacity, muscle hardness, gumminess, chewiness and resilience followed the same pattern as the growth rate, reaching a peak at 320 mg/kg of carnosine; while the opposite trend was observed, reaching a minimum at 320 mg/kg for muscle malondialdehyde and 160 mg/kg for muscle liquid and water loss. The results indicated that appropriate carnosine addition could improve growth performance, muscle antioxidant capacity and flesh quality of grouper. The suitable inclusion concentration was estimated to be 195.14 mg/kg to achieve the best percent weight gain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Metabolism, and Flesh Quality in Aquaculture Nutrition)
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