1/4/2020 Protein Sparing in Tilapia Through Supplementation of a Digestive/Metabolic Enhancer | The Fish Site

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Protein Sparing in Tilapia Through

Supplementation of a
Digestive/Metabolic Enhancer
POST-HARVEST HEALTH NUTRITION

by Lucy Towers
30 March 2015, at 1:00am

Tilapia has drawn much attention lately and been recognized by FAO as
the most potent culture fish species in supplying human protein source
of the Century.

Production of tilapia has been increasing throughout the world and a future increase in
production has been projected. As the industry expands and technology development
continues, traditional extensive culture of tilapia is being replaced by semi-intensive and
intensive production systems.

As stocking rates increase, the contribution of natural food decreases and more nutritionally
complete diets are needed. In semi-intensive and intensive culture systems, diet is the most
expensive cost item, often ranging from 30% to 60% of the total variable expenses,
depending on the intensity of the culture operation. Thus, the use of least-cost, nutritionally
balanced diets and good feeding management are two most important requisites for
successful fish production.

Traditionally, dietary non-protein energy sources, such as carbohydrate or lipid have been
demonstrated to spare the protein for tilapia (Shiau, 2001). However, these common
carbohydrate sources also show low digestibility due to the high fiber content, whereas high
dietary fat levels cause fatty fish. Therefore, feed additives that can improve nutrient
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utilization have a potential to promote protein sparing in tilapia and reduce the feed cost per
kg of fish and/or filet produced.

Previous work has revealed the potential of synergistic blends of digestive phytobiotics,
natural emulsifying agents and co-factors of digestion to improve feed efficiency and
growth and to reduce visceral depositions in Nile tilapia under lab (Ceulemans et al., 2009)
as well as field conditions (Sampaio Gonçalves et al., 2012). The present study was
conducted to investigate the use of a feed additive with digestive/metabolic enhancing
action to reduce dietary protein level in Tilapia without affecting performance and final
product quality. During this trial, a wide range of parameters were evaluated, including fish
performance, filleting yield, metabolic indicators, lipid utilization and intestinal morphology.

Growth trial

Experimental diets (formulation and composition are shown in Table 1) were designed by
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) based on a common feed
formulation for tilapia in Taiwan. The diets were extruded by Tungkang Biotech Research
Center (Pingtung, Taiwan). The feed additive with digestive/metabolic enhancing properties
consisted of Aquagest® OMF (Nutriad International, Belgium). Experimental diets consisted
of a control diet (28% protein and 7% lipid without Aquagest OMF, coded as CONTROL 28/7)
and a test diet with 2% less protein and the feed additive added (26% protein and 7% lipid,
0.3% Aquagest OMF; coded as LOPRO 26/7+AG).

Male hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus × O. aureus)

were supplied from the local farm in Tainan, Taiwan. All
the fish were reared at the “88 platform” test farm in
Changjhih, Pingtung.

Upon arrival, they were acclimated to farm conditions for 2

month in a cement pond [5 m (w) × 5 m (l) × 0.75 m (h)]
and fed commercial tilapia diet (Hanaqua Tech Inc.,
Taiwan). The conditions during the acclimation period were
similar to those at the initiation of the experiment. Three
cement ponds were used for the feeding trial. Each pond
was divided into two parts by a nylon net. Forty five tilapia
with average initial weight of approximately 175 g were
randomly selected into each pond. Fish were reared in a
flow-through system with underground freshwater.
Around 80% of the water in the system was changed every
three weeks.

Fish were fed with 2-2.5% of their body weight per day. This amount was close to the
maximal daily ration for tilapia. The daily ration was divided into two equal meals (08:00 and
15:00 h) and hand-fed to the fish. Fish were weighed once every 3 weeks by students from
NPUST, to monitor growth performance and adjust feeding rations. Fish were fed the test
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diets during 18-weeks from July 28 to November 30, 2013. Water temperature was recorded
every day. Other water quality parameters, including ammonium and nitrite concentrates
were determined every week by NPUST.

At the end of the feeding trial, body length and weight of tilapia were recorded. Weight gain
(WG, as measured by the percentage of body weight gain), feed efficiency (FE), protein
efficiency ratio (PER), protein retention, condition factor and hepatosomatic index were
calculated. Five fish were sampled randomly to be sacrified. Liver, blood and muscle were
collected and stored in - 20°C until analysis.

The midgut samples were analyzed by histological assay. Blood was

examined on the hematological parameters, including red blood cell
count, hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration, and plasma
triglyceride concentrations. Proximate composition of muscle was
also measured. Thirty fish were transferred to Hung-Yi Frozen Food
Factory (Pingtung, Taiwan, Fig. 1) to determine the fillet yield (%)
and visceral fat (%).

Multiple effects from supplementing the feed additive to a low protein feed

Growth performances of tilapia fed different diets were shown in Table 2. Fish fed LOPRO
26/7+AG, grew faster (daily weight gain 5.2% higher) than control fish, although these
differences were not significantly different. FCR, pro tein efficiency ratio (PER) and protein
retention were significantly better (P<0.05) in tilapia fed the LOPRO 26/7+AG-diet
compared with the control (showing -7.1%, +14.8% and +7.3%, respectively, change versus
control). These results clearly indicated that the supplementation of the feed additive
showed positive effects on protein utilization and growth for tilapia, resulting in an effective
protein sparing effect.

Visceral fat (Table 3) and plasma triglyceride concentrations (Table 4) in fish fed LOPRO
26/7+AG, showed -7.1% and -14.0% reduction compared to the control group. This indicates
that the feed additive ingested by tilapia can enhance lipid utilization and decrease the
metabolism of protein to energy by the fish.

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In addition, hepatic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity was higher in the

LOPRO 26/7+AG group compared to control fish (Table 4). This enzyme is involved in the
pentose phosphate pathway to generate the coenzyme NADPH for metabolism. High
performance of G6PDH generally indicates high activity of fatty acid synthesis derived from
carbohydrate. In the present study, enhanced G6PDH activity indicated a higher rate of
carbohydrate utilization in fish fed the feed additive.

The improvement of nutrient utilization was also reflected in filleting yield. Tilapia fed
LOPRO 26/7+AG showed 1.1% higher filleting yield (Table 3) compared to control fish.

Hematological parameters, including WBC, RBC, Hct and Hb, were not affected by the
dietary treatments (Table 4). These results suggest that in the present trial, the general
health status of Tilapia was not influenced by the changes in dietary protein levels or the
supplementation of the feed additive. The histological evaluation of midgut from all
treatments (Fig. 2) showed a little atrophy in fish fed diets without Aquagest OMF
compared with fish fed diets with Aquagest OMF. In all experimental diets, many plant
ingredients were used, such as soybean meal, rapeseed meal, wheat meal, wheat flour,
coconut meal, rice bran and corn DDGS. By our knowledge, anti-nutritional factors in plant
ingredients were considered to cause intestinal enteritis for fish. So the damage to the villi
was commonly found in fish fed plant-based diet. In the present study, the villi integrity in
fish fed diets supplemented Aquagest OMF was better than that in fish fed diets without
the feed additive.

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Conclusion

The present study demonstrated that the dietary protein level can be reduced in tilapia by
supplementing a feed additive capable of enhancing nutrient utilization. Tilapia fed 2% less
protein and supplemented with a digestive/metabolic enhancer, showed even better
performance in terms of growth, FCR, PER, protein retention and fileting yield compared to
control fish. Furthermore, fish fed the enhanced low protein diet showed lower levels of
visceral fat and plasma triglycerides, but enhanced G6PDH activity, which indicated effects
on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. The metabolic effects can explain the release of non-
protein energy, which in turn results in protein sparing and more effective utilization of
protein for muscle growth. Increased nutrient utilization efficiency is key to achieve more
cost-efficient feeds.

March 2015

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Lucy Towers
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