Work

Synergistic effects of biofloc and astaxanthin on pigmentation, immunity, and intestinal microbiota of Litopenaeus vannamei

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The impact of dietary astaxanthin (AST) levels on the growth performance, pigment deposition, immune function, and gut microbiota of Litopenaeus vannamei reared under biofloc technology (BFT) and clear-water systems was systematically investigated in this work to evaluate the potential synergistic effects between BFT and dietary AST. Along these lines, shrimps with an initial body weight of 3.94 ± 1.58 g were fed diets supplemented with 0, 60, 80, 100, or 120 mg/kg AST and cultured for 35 days under either BFT or clear-water conditions. From our analysis, it was demonstrated that: (1) the interaction between the culture mode and AST level (Model × AST) significantly affected shrimp’s survival rate and weight gain rate (WGR) ( P < 0.05). A quadratic regression model based on WGR was applied, yielding a theoretical optimum AST level of 91.77 mg/kg under BFT conditions; (2) the deposition of AST in tissues was affected by both culture mode and dietary AST level; however, a significant interaction between these factors was detected only for the AST content in the uropod ( P < 0.05); (3) various body colour parameters, immune enzyme activities, and antioxidant capacity all exhibited significant interactive enhancement effects ( P < 0.05), with the B80 group showing the best overall performance;and (4) gut microbiota analysis indicated that BFT and AST jointly altered the composition and predicted functions of the intestinal microbiota and the B60 group showing greater enrichment in immune-related predicted functional categories.In conclusion, BFT enhanced dietary AST utilization in L. vannamei , supporting comparable or superior culture performance at lower AST supplementation levels relative to clear-water conditions. Despite a theoretical optimum of 91.77 mg/kg AST derived from quadratic regression of WGR under BFT conditions, an 80 mg/kg supplementation level is recommended as optimal in practice when integrating growth, tissue AST deposition, coloration, immune, and economic considerations.

Source: Aquaculture Reports

DOI: 10.1016/j.aqrep.2026.103665

Authors: Jia-Qi Wu, Fu-Rui Wang, Miao Zhu, Cheng-Bo Sun

Institution: Guangdong Ocean University

Language: English

Topic: Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth

Subfield: Aquatic Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Life below water, Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,640