Growth, body composition, and hematology of yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) given feeds supplemented with organic acid salts (sodium acetate and sodium propionate)

Abstract

Effects of adding organic acid salts (OAS) to plant protein (PP)–rich feeds were evaluated in a trial with juvenile yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) (initial weight ca 6.5 g). Fish were given iso-nitrogenous (ca. 48% protein) and iso-caloric (ca. 19.6 kJ g−1) feeds supplemented with sodium acetate (SA) and sodium propionate (SP): SP5 (5 g SP kg−1), SP10 (10 g SP kg−1), SA5 (5 g SA kg−1), SA10 (10 g SA kg−1), and SP+SA (5 g SP kg−1 + 5 g SA kg−1). A PP-rich feed without OAS supplementation was the control. There were 3 replicates for each treatment and trial duration was 8 weeks, during which time the fish were kept in 60-L tanks (10 fish per tank) and fed to satiation twice each day. At the end of the trial, growth performance, feed utilization, whole-body proximate composition, and hemato-biochemical parameters were analyzed. Final weights in SP5 (14.61 g), SP10 (14.14 g), and SP+SA (14.29 g) groups were remarkably higher than the control (11.18 g). The highest and the least feed conversion ratio values were in the control (1.71) and SP5 (1.19) groups, respectively. Whole-body proximate composition did not change among groups. Blood hemoglobin contents in fish fed the OAS-supplemented diets were between 7.44 and 7.88 g dL−1 that was higher than the control (6.47 g dL−1). Fish fed on the OAS-incorporated diets had greater amounts of plasma total protein (6.0–6.94 g dL−1) compared to the control (5.06 g dL−1). According to the findings of this study, administrating 5 g SP kg−1 of a PP-rich diet is recommended for improving growth and welfare of A. latus juveniles.