Supplemental effects of biofloc powder on growth performance, innate immunity, and disease resistance of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to study the effect of dietary supplementation of a biofloc powder on growth performance and non-specific immune response of Litopenaeus vannamei. Seven experimental diets were prepared with supplementation of graded levels of dried biofloc powder by 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0% (designated as Con, BF0.5, BF1, BF2, BF4, BF6, and BF8, respectively). Triplicate groups of shrimp (1.01 ± 0.01 g) were hand-fed with one of the diets four times a day. At the end of the feeding trial, significantly (P ˂ 0.05) higher growth performance and feed utilization were obtained in BF4 groups compared to those fed the Con diet. The innate immunity of shrimp was improved by the dietary supplementation of biofloc. Dietary inclusion of biofloc at the level of 4.0% significantly increased disease resistance of shrimp against Vibrio harveyi. The results indicate that biofloc might be used as a dietary supplement for growth performance, innate immunity and disease resistance of Pacific white shrimp.