This study aimed to investigate whether Phytocee (Natural Remedies Company), a natural plant extract, can improve the growth performance and gut health of post-larvae shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei under oxygen depletion stress, compared to vitamin C-phosphate. Oxygen depletion is a common stress in shrimp aquaculture, and it can negatively affect shrimp health and growth including mortality. Therefore, finding effective ways to mitigate the negative effects of stress on shrimp is crucial for sustainable and profitable shrimp farming. Phytocee is a natural plant extract that contains polyphenols, withanolides and triterpenoids , which are known to have antioxidant and immune-boosting properties. These properties may make Phytocee to be an effective alternative to vitamin C in supporting shrimp health and productivity, especially under stressful conditions, while promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly aquaculture practices.
The feeding trial was conducted in CRD with 3 treatments and 4 replicates as shown in Table 1.
Vitamin C-phosphate and Phytocee were top up on commercial feed and fed to shrimp for 21 days, then challenge the dissolved oxygen stress tolerance test. Healthy white shrimp PL 15 stage were stocked in 300L tank at density of 3 shrimp/L. All shrimps were fed 5 times a day. After the 21-day feeding, a low dissolved oxygen (DO) stress test was achieved by stopping aeration for 4 hours trial. DO of normal and depleted oxygen conditions was about 5 ppm and 1 ppm, respectively. Survival shrimps were collected to analyze hepatopancreas health, lipid deposition and EHP infection. The trial results were shown in Figure 1 and 2 which displayed that no significant differences (P> 0.05) were observed in final body weight and feed conversion ratio as well as survival rate among all treatments. Results under low DO condition found that there were not significant differences (P> 0.05) in survival rates. Supplementation of Phytocee (T3) improved survival by 3-5% of numerical value when compared to control (T1) and vitamin C-phosphate (T2). After oxygen depletion, hepatopancreas health of shrimp fed T3 and T1 have more constriction than T2. The lipid deposition in shrimp fed T3 have more improvement than T1 and T2 by 5% and 6%, respectively. In addition, evaluation of EHP showed the efficacy of Phytocee to reduce EHP infection by 5% lower than control T1 and 4% lower than T2. The intestinal health was in the same range. In conclusion, Phytocee 2g/Kg diet has the potential to use as a natural alternative for vitamin C-phosphate to support shrimp health and productivity under stressful conditions.