Abstract
Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on the performance, hematology, and immunology of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) juveniles. A total of 0 (control), 2.0, and 4.0 g kg-1 of the probiotic were added to the fish diets. Fish (49.3±4.3 g) were allotted into 12 tanks of 60 L, in a completely randomized design (n=4). After 60 days, final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, and feed conversion ratio were improved in the fish fed with the prebiotic, although feed intake was not affected by the treatments. The number of red blood cells was higher only in fish fed with 2.0 g kg-1 FOS. The opposite was observed for the hematimetric indices mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin, which decreased in fish fed with 2.0 g kg-1 FOS. The number of defense cells, such as leukocytes and thrombocytes, also increased in the prebiotic treatments. The evaluated immunological parameters were not influenced by prebiotic supplementation. Dietary FOS supplementation improved pacu growth and health.
Highlights
Prebiotics are indigestible substances that promote beneficial effects on the growth, feed efficiency, and immune response of the host (Guerreiro et al, 2018a)
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on the performance, hematology, and immunology of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) juveniles
The opposite was observed for the hematimetric indices mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin, which decreased in fish fed with 2.0 g kg-1 FOS
Summary
Prebiotics are indigestible substances that promote beneficial effects on the growth, feed efficiency, and immune response of the host (Guerreiro et al, 2018a). Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are a common type of prebiotic derived from plants, consisting of a nondigestible linear chain of fructose units (Guerreiro et al, 2018b). Their effects on aquatic organisms began to be studied in Atlantic salmon [Salmo salar (Linnaeus, 1758)] farms, aiming to reduce antibiotic use (Grisdale-Helland et al, 2008). Pacu [Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887)] is an omnivorous freshwater fish of the Serrasalmidae family important for aquaculture in South American countries, including Brazil (Valladão et al, 2018). Besides Serrasalmidae species, the effect of dietary supplementation with FOS has only been evaluated in tambaqui (Paz et al, 2019), with the inclusion of 1.0 to 5.0 g kg-1 of the prebiotic being recommended
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