| Abstract: |
The potential effects of dietary supplementation with β-1,3 glucan and fructooligosaccha-
rides (β-1,3 GF) on antioxidant activities, immunological response, and growth performance of Pacific
white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) was investigated. Four diets (iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous)
with different levels of β-1,3 GF (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g kg−1
) were fed to healthy shrimp juveniles
weighing 3 ± 0.5 g for 75 days. Shrimps were randomly distributed into 12 net enclosures at a
density of 30 shrimp/net, and the experiment was performed in triplicate. The results revealed that
long-term supplementation with 1.5 g kg−1 β-1,3 GF significantly improved shrimp weight gain,
feed conversion ratio, and digestive enzyme profiles compared to the control diet group. However,
there were no substantial variations in the contents of moisture, crude protein, total lipids, and ash in
the muscles of shrimp fed on different diets. Surprisingly, all antioxidants (superoxide dismutase,
catalase, glutathione peroxidase) and immune biomarkers (lysozyme, total hemocyte count, phenol
oxidase, and respiratory burst) activities were significantly elevated with increasing levels of β-1,3 GF
in the shrimp diet, and the highest values were recorded in the 1.5 g kg−1 diet groups. Challenge test
results revealed that F. solani could cause a high mortality rate (86.7%) in a group fed a normal basal
diet within 14 days at a dose of 5 × 104
conidia mL−1
. Surprisingly, all dietary treated groups with
different doses of β-1,3 GF showed high resistance against F. solani, represented by lower cumulative
mortality rates (20–43.3%) compared to the control group. Moreover, most of the infected shrimp
showed a typical black to brown gill lesion similar to that observed in the natural infection, where
an identical fungus was successfully re-isolated from infected gills and muscles. Overall, this study
recommends an appropriate incorporation level of β-1,3 GF that could enhance growth performance
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