Abstract
This study investigated the effect of different levels of digestible protein (DP) on blood metabolites, hepatic enzyme activity of glycolysis and amino acid metabolism, energy reserves, and the production characteristics of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) during the finishing growth phase. Six semi purified and isoenergetic diets, containing 16.3, 20.1, 23.8, 27.2, 31.5, and 34.8% of balanced DP, provided with essential amino acid balance, were hand-fed to pacu (1100.0 ± 10.3 g, initial weight) three times daily for 7 weeks. The experiment consisted of six treatments, with three randomly arranged replicates (tanks) per treatment. The data obtained from this experiment were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and significant differences (p < 0.05) between treatments were determined using Tukey’s test. Blood metabolites, except serum ammonia and the hepatic enzymes activities of glycolysis and amino acid metabolism, except hexokinase activity were affected (p < 0.05) by balanced DP. The energy reserve indices, except hepatic total lipid content, were also found associated (p < 0.05) with balanced DP. The test diets significantly (p < 0.05) affected growth performance parameters. Higher dietary proteins led to a greater energy uptake by fish from the protein in feed. Overall, fish fed the intermediate level (23.8%) of balanced DP with digestible energy of 17.95 MJ kg−1 showed better production traits and physio-biochemical health markers. This information could help nutritionists and farmers to develop nutritionally balanced and economically and environmentally sustainable aquafeed for promoting healthy and sustainable production of pacu in intensive culture systems.
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Data generated or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Evonik Industries AG, Essen, Germany, for analyzing the amino acid composition of the diets.
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The authors received financial support from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (Process No. 190123/2014-1; Process No. 312051/2018-2), and São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) (Process No. 2013/25761-4; Process No. 2014/267231; Process No. 2018/01660-8).
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AM Oshiro and KU Khan were responsible for the experimental design, performed the animal experiments, done samplings and prepared the manuscript and reviewed and edited the final version (Equal first authors). GC Carli, E Pahor-Filho, and AM Oshiro performed the sampling procedures and overall experimental analyses. NK Sakomura, JBK Fernandes, and LS Takahashi conceived the study, supervised the project, reviewed and edited the final version of the manuscript and were involved in all the stages of manuscript preparation. All the authors have read and approved the final version of this manuscript.
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Oshiro, A.M., Khan, K.U., Carli, G.C. et al. Effect of digestible protein on intermediate metabolism, hepatic enzyme activities, energy reserves, and growth performance of pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) in the finishing growth phase. Fish Physiol Biochem 50, 259–271 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01243-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01243-z