Whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is a fishery commodity that has seen a significant increase in production since the early 1970s (Ihsanario & Ridwan, 2021). However, to meet the global market demand, vannamei shrimp farmers face numerous challenges dependent on climate and seasons. The discovery of several types of Vibrio bacteria are known to cause a wide variety of diseases in shrimp, such as red disease, shell disease, septic hepatopancreatic necrosis, luminous vibriosis, zoaea II syndrome, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), and many others. Postbiotics play a pivotal role in this study as a nutritional supplement for shrimp which are believed to enhance growth and immunity (Priyanka & Dhanasekaran, 2023). The primary aim of this study was to investigate the impact of postbiotics on the development and health of juvenile white-leg shrimp.
The experiment involved six hundred juvenile white shrimps weighing approximately 1-1.5 g. These shrimps were divided into three groups, with eight replications for each treatment. They were placed in 240 L tanks containing 120 L of 10 ppt saline water at 200 shrimp/m3 density. The shrimps were fed for eight weeks with different treatments: a control group (basal diet) and two groups receiving Postbiotic (DVAQUATM) at inclusion rates of 0.25% and 0.5% of feed, respectively.
In terms of performance, after eight weeks of feeding, shrimp fed DVAQUATM at both inclusion rates showed an increase of weight of 10% and 18% (Figure 1), respectively, being significantly higher (P < 0.05) with the highest inclusion rate. Feed conversion ratio and survival of shrimps at eight weeks were significantly improved (P < 0.05) by both inclusion rates of DVAQUATM.
After being challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, shrimps fed DVAQUATM at both inclusion rates showed significantly (P<0.05) improved survival (Figure 2). Different immune parameters like phenoloxidase (PO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lysozyme activities were significantly improved (P < 0.05) at both inclusion levels of DVAQUATM. This study indicated that postbiotics positively supports juvenile white-leg shrimp growth performance and enhanced immune parameters under a bacterial challenge.