Effects of Fermented Kefir as a Functional Feed Additive in Litopenaeus vannamei Farming

Abstract

Litopenaeus vannamei, known as whiteleg shrimp, is susceptible to infection by pathogenic microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria. Therefore, the prevention of infections in this shrimp is important to regulate the outbreaks of pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, we investigated the effects of kefir as a functional feed additive on innate immunity, survival against WSSV (White Spot Syndrome Virus) and productivity of L. vannamei. As a result, the treatment of kefir could upregulate six of seven genes crucial for innate immunity of L. vannamei. Also, the treatment of kefir directly improved the survival rate of L. vannamei against WSSV infection. Finally, in order to determine whether kefir can improve the productivity of shrimp, we carried out field tests in three aquaculture farms in South Korea. The weight of shrimp fed kefir was increased by 120% as well as the length, compared with that of the control group. These results demonstrate that kefir can be utilized as a functional feed additive to improve both innate immunity and productivity of L. vannamei in shrimp farming with no use of antibiotics.

The Effect of Fermented Kefir as Functional Feed Additive in Post-Weaned Pigs

“…and yeast was not reduced, compared to other concentrations of dipotassium phosphate (Figure 1a-c) [6]. The number of lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spp and yeast reached its maximum when 2% seed culture of kefir was inoculated, rather than 10% (Figure 1d) [6]. Based on these results, we finally confirmed the optimum concentration of glucose, whey protein and dipotassium phosphate, and the size of inoculum (Table 1)…”

“…At 0.02% and 0.1% of dipotassium phosphate, the number of lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spp. and yeast was not reduced, compared to other concentrations of dipotassium phosphate (Figure 1a-c) [6]. The number of lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spp and yeast reached its maximum when 2% seed culture of kefir was inoculated, rather than 10% (Figure 1d) [6].…”

“…Based on the method previously reported, we carried out the preparation of fermented kefir [6]. The kefir grain was inoculated in 4% (w/v) of whole fat milk medium and cultivated at 30 °C for 2 d without agitation.…”

Influence of different fermented fruit wastes phytobiotic as feed additive on zootechnical performance, bacteriological analysis, digestive enzymes, and immune response of Litopenaeus vannamei

“…These components demonstrated that it's feasible to incorporate them as a replacement for protein, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals in aquatic animals' meals to reduce feed expenditures without compromising their quality or hindering growth. In addition, the role of natural feed is to enhance digestive enzymes (Sankar et al, 2011;Labrador et al, 2016) and immune stimulation (Chuchird et al, 2017;Choi et al, 2020), ensure water quality (Amrutha & Shyama, 2018; Rosas et al, 2022) and control the pathogenic microbes (Goba et al, 2018), in addition to stimulating growth in fish and shrimp aquaculture. According to FAO (2022), global fruit production reached 800 million tons, with about 35-45% of wastes which can be reprocessed in the animal and aqua-feed sectors due to substantial nutritive content and plenty of useful components, with an attempt to minimize the negative effects on the environment (Rifna et al, 2021).…”