by Fernando Roberti, Biorigin
The production of fish, particularly tilapia, is becoming increasingly important in the protein market and in the animal nutrition industry.
This production chain has changed the lives of many people and has made fish production an increasingly technology-dependent activity.
In this context, nutrition and health issues have been the subjects of great interest to the producers. Biorigin, an innovative company that offers natural products, has in its portfolio functional additives that optimize production such as feeding purified beta-glucans and mannan oligosaccharides to tropical fish, thereby increasing the productivity of the fish industry.
The production of fish, particularly tilapia, is becoming increasingly important in the protein market and in the animal nutrition industry.
This production chain has changed the lives of many people and has made fish production an increasingly technology-dependent activity.
In this context, nutrition and health issues have been the subjects of great interest to the producers. Biorigin, an innovative company that offers natural products, has in its portfolio functional additives that optimize production such as feeding purified beta-glucans and mannan oligosaccharides to tropical fish, thereby increasing the productivity of the fish industry.
MacroGard®, consisting of purified beta-glucans, is an immunomodulator that enhances natural defenses and prevents the emergence of diseases.
Its mode of action is related to the activation of leukocytes (white blood cells), strengthening the immune system. For this purpose, however, beta-glucans must be purified (concentration ≥ 60%) and highly exposed.
As a result, fish supplemented with beta-glucans have greater capacity to fight pathogens that are naturally present in the environment (bacteria, viruses), greater capacity to recover from stress (fish are more sensitive to diseases after handling and transport, similarly to humans during stressful periods), and respond better to vaccination (against Streptococcus, for instance, which has been increasingly applied in commercial settings).
All these benefits result in a better overall health status and performance. In a study conducted by Prof Dr Fabiana Pilarski, from UNESP Jaboticabal, MacroGard® was included in an extruded feed at 0.1% (1 kg/t), which was fed to tilapia for 30 days.
The results showed that MacroGard® supplementation increased weight gain by 50 percent and survival rate by 31.50 percent after fish were challenged with the bacterium Streptococcus agalactiae.
Read the full article HERE.
The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd
For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquaculture-news