Effects of Choline Supplementation in Diets on Juvenile Pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus): Productive Performance, Proximate Composition and Serum Lipid Level

Antonio Cesar Godoy; Fábio Bittencourt; Leticia Fantini-Hoag; Claucia Aparecida Honorato; Deividy Miranda da Silva; Altevir Signor; Leonardo de Oliveira Seno; Maria Fernanda de Castro Burbarelli; Wilson Rogério Boscolo; Dacley Hertes Neu

doi:10.2174/012772574X282102240102064529

Effects of Choline Supplementation in Diets on Juvenile Pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus): Productive Performance, Proximate Composition and Serum Lipid Level

Recent Adv Food Nutr Agric. 2024 Jan 17. doi: 10.2174/012772574X282102240102064529. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados. Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias. Rodovia Dourados - Itahum, km 12. Cidade Universitária, Dourados/MS. Brazil.
² Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná. Rua da Faculdade, 354. Centro de Engenharias e Ciências Exatas. Toledo/PR. Brazil.
³ School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Science, Auburn University, 203 Swingle Hall, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
⁴ Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados. Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias. Rodovia Dourados - Itahum, km 12.Cidade Universitária, Dourados/MS. Brazil.

PMID: 38243965
DOI: 10.2174/012772574X282102240102064529

Abstract

Introduction: Pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) is a Brazilian fish species of high commercial value and has emerged as one of the main species with potential for intensive farming. This study aimed to investigate the impact of choline supplementation on productive performance, visceral fat, hepatosomatic indices, proximate composition, serum biochemical profile, and liver coloration in juvenile pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus).

Method: The 60-day experiment was conducted in the experimental hatchery of the Study Group of Aquaculture Management - GEMAq of the State University of West Paraná, Brazil. The completely randomized design consisted of five treatments with four replicates each. A total of 200 fish, with an average initial weight and length of 4.25 g and 5.97 cm, were distributed among 20 experimental hapas, resulting in a stocking density of 10 fish per experimental unit. Fish fed a choline-deficient diet exhibited the lowest values for final weight, weight gain, visceral fat, and hepatosomatic index. Conversely, in terms of proximate composition, fish fed choline-deficient diets had the highest moisture content but the lowest crude fat content. Triglyceride levels in juvenile pacu were significantly higher in groups fed diets containing choline (400 to 1200 mg kg-1 ). We also observed significant differences in the cyan color of the liver (P < 0.05). Notably, we observed significant differences in the cyan coloration of the liver (P < 0.05). Other parameters did not exhibit significant changes in response to varying choline levels in the diets.

Result: Our study demonstrated that choline supplementation in P. mesopotamicus juveniles at an optimal concentration of 400 mg kg-1 significantly impacted growth, metabolism, productive performance, proximate composition, biochemical parameters, and liver color.

Conclusion: These findings offer crucial guidance for aquaculture professionals, enabling them to enhance growth and health in P. mesopotamicus farming. Further research on choline's influence on lipid metabolism holds potential for more precise dietary recommendations, ultimately improving the efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture practices for this species.

Keywords: Feed Supplementation; Hepatoprotectant; Metabolites; New feed for neotropical specie; Nutrition; Technological additives.