Effect of dietary composition on specific dynamic action in southern catfish Silurus meridionalis Chen

Abstract

The effect of dietary macronutrient composition on specific dynamic action (SDA) in southern catfish Silurus meridionalis Chen juveniles (39.0±2.8 g) was studied. A control diet (40% protein, 10% lipid and 15% carbohydrate) was the optimal dietary profile for growth in this catfish according to a previous study. Based on this, two diets were formulated by substituting protein and lipid for one another, referred to as LPHL (30% P:15% L) and HPLL (50% P:5% L), and two diets were formulated by substituting protein and carbohydrate for one another, referred to as LPHC (30% P:30% C) and HPLC (50% P:0% C). The results showed that dietary composition affected the peak metabolic rate, duration and SDA coefficient. The peak metabolic rate in the LPHC group (211.5 mgO2 kg−1 h−1) was significantly lower than catfish in the control (265.2 mg O2 kg−1 h−1) and the HPLC (257.7 mg O2 kg−1 h−1) group. The SDA duration in the control group (26.8 h) was significantly shorter than those of the HPLL (38.0 h), LPHC (33.8 h) and HPLC (33.8 h) groups. The SDA coefficient in the LPHL group (11.1%) was significantly lower than those of the control and the other groups (13.2–15.4%). The results suggest that in southern catfish, the SDA response to dietary carbohydrate is similar to that of dietary protein, and that the SDA may not be affected solely by an increase in the amount of protein ingested, but may be influenced by interaction of other dietary components.