Supplementation of a Commercial Diet of European Seabass by an Algal Ethanolic Extract of Ulva lactuca
Abstract
Ulva spp. has been investigated as a feed additive with promising results, while literature concerning the use of its ethanolic extracts on the European seabass diet is scarce. Such extracts have shown promising results towards the reduction of the use of antibiotics and the improvement of the final product quality in the aquaculture industry. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a Ulva lactuca extract of high antioxidant activity as a result of extraction process optimization on the growth performance and flesh biochemical composition of Dicentrarchus labrax. 450 fingerlings were separated into three experimental groups, and fed with supplemented diets at 1% and 3% w/w Ulva extract inclusion for 8 weeks. The specific growth rate of fish subjected to 3% inclusion increased at a rate of ~28% during the trial, while flesh mineral content was found to be ~15% higher than the control population (p0.05). Results of this study indicate that the targeted extraction of bioactive compounds from algae can potentially result in overcoming drawbacks regarding their digestibility and subsequently improve their use in the aquaculture industry.
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