Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences

en Research Article: Pellet quality and growth performance of whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, fed with different dietary pellet binders aquaculture aquaculture پژوهشي Orginal research papers <div style="text-align: justify;">The current study investigated the effects of different pellet binders on the pellet quality, growth performance, hemolymph biochemistry, and intestinal morphology of whiteleg shrimp for 3 months. The shrimp were randomly assigned to four dietary groups (three replicates/ group) in a polyethylene circular tank containing seawater. Experimental treatments included, the control group fed with the basal diet (BD) (G1, no pellet binder), and G2, G3, and G4 received the BD containing different pellet binders, including calcium lignosulphonate (at 1 % of diet), starch + gum based-binder (at 0.4 % of diet), and polymethyl carbamide (PMC) (at 0.5 % of diet), respectively. Different binders improved the pellet quality parameters, including water stability, leaching rate (p≥0.05), and water activity (p≤0.05), with a particularly pronounced improvement effect in the PMC-bound pellets. No differences (p≥0.05) were found in shrimp growth and feed efficiency utilization, whole body composition of nutrients, and digestive enzyme activities in response to the different pellet binders. The diets processed with starch+ gum, as well as lignosulfonate binders, resulted in higher glucose levels in shrimp hemolymph. Feeding shrimp with pellet binders significantly reduced hemolymph concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoproteins, and very low-density lipoprotein, with the most pronounced reductions occurring in the PMC and starch + gum-based binder groups (p≤0.05). In conclusion, the pellet binders evaluated in this study were beneficial in enhancing pellet quality; however, they did not improve shrimp growth performance. Polymethyl carbamide (an inclusion level of 0.5% of diet), gave the best results in both pellet quality and performance. However, findings suggest that PMC is more suitable for short-term application during shrimp culture. Also, suggest that starch+ gum-based binder could be used as a practical alternative to PMC since it enhances pellet quality and nutritional characteristics, while supporting shrimp performance without adverse impacts.</div> Litopenaeus vannamei, Aquafeed, Hemolymph Biochemistry, Feed quality, Performance 85 103 http://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-4831-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 M.I. El-katcha mohamedkatcha@yahoo.com 100319475328460058825 100319475328460058825 No Department of Nutrition and Veterinary Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt M.A. Soltan mossad.sultan@alexu.edu.eg 100319475328460058826 100319475328460058826 No Department of Nutrition and Veterinary Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt R.S. Shewita ramadan.saiid@alexu.edu.eg 100319475328460058827 100319475328460058827 No Department of Nutrition and Veterinary Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt S.I. Marzouq samarmarzoq90@gmail.com 100319475328460058828 100319475328460058828 No Quality assurance, Ghelioun Feed Factory, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt K. El-Naggar karima.muhammad@alexu.edu.eg 100319475328460058829 100319475328460058829 Yes Department of Nutrition and Veterinary Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt