Aquaculture production from shrimp to support global population growth has increased the production of farmed shrimp globally . The practice of aquaculture intensification is impeded by health and nutrition – affecting growth performance. To untangle these consequences, functional feed additives have been used to stimulate shrimp immune and improve shrimp performance specially to control viral and bacterial pathogens in recent treat shrimp diseases such as V. parahaemolyticus that caused Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND), or more commonly known as Early Mortality Syndrome, EMS) . One of the traditional and widely used shrimp f arming practices being the use of antibiotics to reduce the likelihood of the disease breakout , or the use of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to directly reduce the GI tract pathogen load.
One of the recent innovations – LipoVital Protect ( a f unctional lipid) includes the use of monoglycerides of short to medium chain fatty acids that combines the benefit of natural bioactive compound, with enhanced performance improvement. Further extending the benefits of organic acids, the composition of the organic acids is optimized by the monoglyceride technology to deliver a more specific approach towards different bacterial pathogens, reducing stress factors and thus increasing performance and yield.
In vitro trial results showed that the LipoVital Protect could inhibit the targeted Vibrios spp. and some other bacterial species . Tank trial done by CENAIM in Ecuador has shown a n improvement in shrimp immune response to the disease – with ~3.3% improvement in survival rate and ~9% improvement in weight gain compared to control in AHPND challenge study ( Table 1) . Similar trial done by Kasetsart University in Thailand showed the results point to improved growth performance and tolerance to Vibrio indicating LipoVital Protect helped to promote a robust immune response in shrimps (Figure 2)
LipoVital Protect’s ability to activate shrimps’ innate immune system could be transformative
for the shrimp industry. As a key additive in feeds, it can form the backbone of a comprehensive disease prevention strategy for shrimp farmers, all while improving animal health and increasing yield.