| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2431330 | Fish & Shellfish Immunology | 2015 | 8 Pages |
•Heat-killed Lactobacillus plantarum was used as a dietary supplement for Macrobrachium rosenbergii.•Probiotic treatment did not show significant improvement in the growth performance of prawn.•Probiotic treatment significantly improved immune response and disease protection in prawn.•Heat-killed L. plantarum can be used as an ecofriendly health management tool.
Paraprobiotics, also known as ghost probiotics, are non-viable microbial cells which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a benefit on the host. However, the advantage of non-viable microbes over their viable counterparts is a much debated topic in aquaculture. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate paraprobiotic effect of heat-killed Lactobacillus plantarum on giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. A 90-day feeding trial was conducted by feeding prawn juveniles (mean weight ± SE: 0.54 ± 0.03 g) with three experimental diets prepared by supplementing basal diet (Crude protein: 38%; Gross energy: 387 kcal 100 g−1) with different concentrations of heat-killed probiotics bacteria viz. HKPB1 (107 cfu g−1 diet), HKPB2 (108 cfu g−1 diet), HKPB3 (109 cfu g−1 diet) and control diet (unsupplemented diet). In the present study, growth parameters viz. WG % and SGR and feed utilization parameters viz. FCE, FCR and PER, though improved marginally in all experimental groups, were found to be insignificant (P > 0.05) compared to the control. The immune parameters viz. total hemocyte count (THC), phenol oxidase (PO) activity, respiratory burst (RB) activity and clearance efficiency were significantly improved (P < 0.05) with concurrent decrease (P < 0.05) in cumulative mortality against Aeromonas hydrophila challenge in all the experimental groups except for HKPB1, where PO and RB activity did not improve significantly (P > 0.05) compared to the control. Among the experimental groups, though the improvement in immune parameters was higher (P < 0.05) in HKPB2 and HKPB3 compared to HKPB1 and the control, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed between HKPB2 and HKPB3. The results obtained from the present study indicate that the application of heat-killed L. plantarum at a concentration of 108 cfu g−1 diet, though not effective in augmenting the growth and feed utilization parameters, can significantly improve immune parameters and disease resistance of M. rosenbergii in the laboratory condition.
