Combined effects of dietary starch:Protein ratios and short cycles of fasting/refeeding on Nile tilapia growth and liver health

Abstract

This study evaluated the combined effects of different dietary starch:protein ratios (SPR) and short cycles of fasting/refeeding (FR) on Nile tilapia juveniles on growth, feed and nutrient use, whole‐body composition and liver health. Three diets with SPR classified as high (S30:P32; 0.96 g:g), intermediate (S25:P36; 0.69 g:g) and low (S21:P39; 0.53 g:g) were fed to fish over 60 days on three feeding regimes: 0FR—fish fed daily (control treatment); 1 FR—fish fasted for one day and refed for three days and 2 FR—fish fasted for two days and refed for three days. Fish (2.25 ± 0.01 g) were allotted to a completely randomized factorial design (3 × 3; n = 3). Fish growth and feed conversion ratio decreased (p < .05) with increasing FR. There was no significant difference in daily feed intake between regular‐fed and fasted tilapia as a consequence of hyperphagia in fasted fish. Protein and energy productive values increased (p < .05) with increasing SPR. The occurrence of hepatic steatosis was similar (p > .05) among daily‐fed fish regardless of SPR but increased (p < .05) with increasing SPR in fasted fish. Regardless of dietary SPR, short cycles of fasting/refeeding do not promote compensatory growth. Therefore, Nile tilapia around 2g should be fed daily with low‐SPR diet.

Sustainability of Growth Performance, Water Quality, and Productivity of Nile Tilapia-Spinach Affected by Feeding and Fasting Regimes in Nutrient Film Technique-Based Aquaponics

“…The results did not show compensatory growth performance between the different regimes, which is not consistent with previous studies that reported saturated and timely refeeding programs influenced the expeditious compensatory growth of fish [52,53]. To the same extent, Nile tilapia showed compensatory growth performance following starvation regimes [21,22]. There are two reasons that may explain the absence of compensatory growth: (1) the short duration of fasting, and (2) the aquaponic system, where all excess feed and fish waste are passed periodically throughout the day to the mechanical and biological filter, which the plant depends on to supply it with nutrients.…”

“…Generally, factors such as meal type, fish size, fasting length, water quality, and health status have a great impact on the fish's compensatory growth. Prior studies suggested that Nile tilapia had compensatory growth as a result of intermittent fasting and refeeding [21,22].…”

Effect of Fasting and Refeeding on Juvenile Leopard Mandarin Fish Siniperca scherzeri

“…In contrast to fish fed continuously, those subjected to restricted feeding or fasting can experience greater growth once satiation feeding is resumed [ 3 , 5 , 7 , 8 ]. Such tendencies to return to original weights or growth trajectories are referred to as compensatory or catch-up growth [ 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”

“…Depending on the target species, compensatory growth efficiency can vary with type, duration, and intensity of fasting performed prior to food resupply [ 5 , 11 , 12 ]. Furthermore, compensatory growth can increase feeding efficiency and growth rates while lowering feed and labor costs, ultimately translating environmental improvements and economic gains for farmers.…”

Effect of feeding restrictions on development of juvenile cobias, Rachycentron canadum

“…In contrast, Macêdo et al (2020), who worked with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), did not observe any influence from one and two-day intermittent fasting on hepatocyte vacuolization. It is possible that these authors did not observe any significant difference in their histological analysis on the livers of these fish because of the short fasting time to which they had been subjected.…”