Guanidinoacetic acid supplementation totally based on vegetable meal diet improved the growth performance, muscle flavor components and sensory characteristics of on-growing grass carp (Ctenopharygodon idella)

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effects of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) supplementation totally based on vegetable meal diet on growth performance, muscle flavor components and sensory characteristics of on-growing grass carp (Ctenopharygodon idella). Fish were fed with one fishmeal diet and five vegetable meal diets supplemented with graded levels of GAA (0, 150, 300, 450 and 600 mg/kg GAA diet) for 60 days. After the feeding period, we discovered that appropriate GAA supplementation totally based on vegetable meal diet could (1) improve the percentage weight gain (PWG), feed intake (FI) and feed efficiency (FE) of grass carp; (2) increase muscle flavor nucleotide (IMP), flavor-related fatty acid and amino acid contents; (3) improve muscle postmortem pH, water-holding capacity and firmness to enhance sensory characteristics, which were partly related to postmortem glycolysis, density of myofiber and collagen. Furthermore, based on the growth indicator PWG, muscle DHA, pH and firmness, the appropriate levels of GAA supplementation in vegetable meal diet for on-growing grass carp (169.46–600.89 g) were estimated as to be 335.35, 313.75, 321.72 and 314.61 mg/kg, respectively. Summarily, this study is the first to demonstrate that GAA supplementation totally based on vegetable meal diet elevated the growth performance, muscle flavor components and sensory characteristics of grass carp.