Abstract
Simple SummaryOxidative stress has a direct impact on the welfare of fish, affecting growth performance and health status. Natural plant extracts present a high antioxidant capacity, due to a diversity and abundant content of polyphenols. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify if plant extracts, such as curcumin, green tea, and grape seeds, can promote oxidative status, and ultimately, enhance the growth and physiological stress response of postlarvae. Our results showed that plant extracts can improve the growth and oxidative status of the fish. Moreover, they may help fish to cope under stressful conditions. Dietary formulations with natural supplements may be a viable strategy to improve fish robustness during early life stages, and can therefore contribute to the development of aquafeeds and promote the sustainability of aquaculture production.Plant extracts are known for their high content and diversity of polyphenols, which can improve fish oxidative status. A growth trial with Senegalese sole postlarvae (45 days after hatching) fed with one of four experimental diets—control (CTRL), and supplemented with curcumin (CC), green tea (GT), and grape seed (GS) extracts—was performed to assess if supplementation could improve growth performance and oxidative status. At the end of the growth trial, postlarvae were submitted to a thermal stress to assess their robustness. Sole growth was improved by CC and GS diets when compared to those fed the CTRL. CC and CTRL postlarvae presented the lowest oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation values). Stress-related biomarkers (heat shock protein 70 and glutathione-S-transferase) decreased in CC fish compared to those fed the CTRL diet, which might be due to a direct antioxidant capacity. In contrast, oxidative damage increased in GT and GS sole reared in standard conditions. However, after a thermal stress, GT and GS diets prevented the increase of protein carbonylation content and the decrease of antioxidant glutathione, depending on exposure time. Overall, dietary supplementation with natural extracts modulated oxidative status and stress response after a short/long-term exposure to temperature.
Highlights
Assessing fish oxidative status is crucial to improving welfare and promoting costeffectiveness in aquaculture, as it has a direct impact on the health, growth, and flesh quality of the farmed fish.Natural extracts from plants are an important source of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, alkaloids, and terpenoids
The results from our study suggest that CC diet supplementation improved oxidative status in Senegalese sole postlarvae
Curcumin extract seems a good candidate for long-term supplementation of young fish diets, as it improves the welfare and growth of Senegalese sole
Summary
Natural extracts from plants are an important source of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, alkaloids, and terpenoids. These compounds are produced as secondary metabolites to protect the cells against microbial infections, exerting several biological properties, mainly antioxidant and anti-inflammatory [1,2,3,4,5]. Several plant extracts rich in polyphenolic compounds are considered promising feed additives in fish nutrition with high potential to enhance weight gain, feed efficiency, and/or disease resistance in aquaculture fish [7,8]. Curcumin is a lipophilic polyphenol extracted from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)—commonly used as a spice [9]
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