Influence of Feeding Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) Seeds and Prickly Pear Fruit (Opuntia ficus indica) Peel on the Immune Response and Resistance to Aeromonas sobria Infection in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

In recent times, nutraceuticals have been used extensively to identify promising feed additives for the improvement of the aquaculture industry through the enhancement of growth and survival rates, potentiation of the immune responses, and fortification of the resistance against infectious bacterial diseases. In this study, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were fed with diets supplemented with quinoa seeds (QU) or prickly pear fruit peel (PP) at the dose levels of 10% or 20% of the diet. After 45 days of the feeding trial, the fish were exposed to Aeromonas sobria (A. sobria) challenge. The pre-challenge indices indicated that both supplements mediated a significant improvement in most of the estimated parameters, including survival rate, antioxidant status, hematological and immunological indices, and hepatoprotective potential. These effects were recorded in the groups fed with high doses of the supplements (20%). The least changes were observed in the QU10-supplemented fish. In the spleen tissue, the TGF-β gene was upregulated in the PP10-, PP20- and QU20-supplemented groups, while the expression of the IFN-γ gene remained unaffected in all the supplemented groups, except for the PP20-supplemented group, which showed an upregulation. After the challenge with A. sobria, the relative survival percentage was improved by the supplementation of PP and QU, particularly in the PP20-supplemented group, possibly via the promotion of immunological responses, hepatoprotective potency, and modulation of the studied genes. Moreover, the morphological structure of the tissues showed marked recovery. The findings suggest that Nile tilapia fed with different levels of PP peel and QU seeds, particularly at the level of 20%, enhanced the immune response in fish and improved their resistance against A. sobria infection.

The functional ingredients of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and physiological effects of consuming quinoa: A review

“…The extraction of phenolic and flavonoids compounds from quinoa seed obtained at 60°C, 80% ethanol resulted in the highest TPC yields as 102.86 mg GAE/100 g dry weight, which showed 28.9% 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity (Carciochi et al., 2015). Therefore, functional ingredients that contribute to the antioxidant capacity of quinoa might be the phenolic compounds including flavonoids (Ahmed et al., 2020; Pasko et al., 2009). Balakrishnan and Schneider (2020) reported that seven out of 11 flavonoids remained intact after in vitro digestion.…”

“…The antioxidant effect has also been confirmed in several in vivo studies. Animal experiments have shown that the consumption of quinoa increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px), and catalase (CAT); as well as affected antioxidant‐related biomarker, reducing levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO), evidenced by decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and increased glutathione (GSH) level (Abdel‐Wahhab et al., 2021; Ahmed et al., 2020; Ali, 2019; Al‐Qabba et al., 2020; Cisneros‐Yupanqui et al., 2020; Matsuo, 2005; Mohamed et al., 2019; Saxena et al., 2017; Wahba et al., 2019). Quinoa diet intervention has been proven to help reduce oxidative stress induced by a high‐fructose diet or CCl 4 injection in rats (Al‐Qabba et al., 2020; Mohamed et al., 2019; Pasko et al., 2010; Saxena et al., 2017).…”

“…On the one hand, quinoa has been shown to have immune‐enhancing ability. Quinoa extract was reported to stimulate NO production of macrophages in in vitro experiment before (Yao, Shi, et al., 2014), and the consumption of quinoa has shown to enhance proliferation of lymphocytes, NO level, and TGF‐β expression in infected fish (Ahmed et al., 2020; Yao, Shi, et al., 2014). On the other hand, quinoa showed minor anti‐inflammatory properties in subjects with inflammation.…”

“…Many animal studies have confirmed the hepatoprotective role of quinoa diet, especially under biological stress. Quinoa diet improved liver function in high‐cholesterol‐diet‐induced rats (Alghamdi, 2018; Halaby et al., 2017), CCl 4 ‐induced rats (Al‐Qabba et al., 2020; Saxena et al., 2017), nicotine‐induced rats (Ali, 2019), high‐fructose‐diet‐induced rats (Mohamed et al., 2019), infected fish (Ahmed et al., 2020), cyclophosphamide‐poisoned rats (Wahba et al., 2019), and healthy rats (Fotschki et al., 2020), mainly evidenced by the significant reduction in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. ALT and AST are important indicators of liver function.…”

“…Recently, interest in quinoa seeds has increased again due to the bioactive compounds found in it. The presence of bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds, polysaccharides, and saponins suggests the potential beneficial effects of quinoa, because there is evidence indicating that these components may be associated with various biological activities, including anticancer, anti‐inflammatory, and antioxidant activities (Ahmed et al., 2020; Al‐Qabba et al., 2020; Cao et al., 2020; Repo‐Carrasco‐Valencia et al., 2010).…”