Probiotics in Fish Nutrition—Long-Standing Household Remedy or Native Nutraceuticals?

Abstract

Over the last decades, aquaculture production increased rapidly. The future development of the industry highly relies on the sustainable utilization of natural resources. The need for improving disease resistance, growth performance, food conversion, and product safety for human consumption has stimulated the application of probiotics in aquaculture. Probiotics increase growth and feed conversion, improve health status, raise disease resistance, decrease stress susceptibility, and improve general vigor. Currently, most probiotics still originate from terrestrial sources rather than fish. However, host-associated (autochthonous) probiotics are likely more persistent in the gastrointestinal tract of fish and may, therefore, exhibit longer-lasting effects on the host. Probiotic candidates are commonly screened in in vitro assays, but the transfer to in vivo assessment is often problematic. In conclusion, modulation of the host-associated microbiome by the use of complex probiotics is promising, but a solid understanding of the interactions involved is only in its infancy and requires further research. Probiotics could be used to explore novel ingredients such as chitin-rich insect meal, which cannot be digested by the fish host alone. Most importantly, probiotics offer the opportunity to improve stress and disease resistance, which is among the most pressing problems in aquaculture.

Probiotic Potentiality from Versatile Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Strains as Resource to Enhance Freshwater Fish Health

“…Conversely, an aggressive pathogen producing powerful virulence factors may be able to disrupt the normal microbial balance and lead to dysbiosis. Most surveys on probiotic applications in aquaculture consider the ability to inhibit pathogenic bacteria [52].…”

Autochthonous and allochthonous dietary probiotics mitigate acute stress in Astyanax bimaculatus during transport

“…Probiotics have been defined as live microorganisms that impart positive effects on a host animal by improving the intestinal microbiota (Gatesoupe, 2008). Overall, probiotics can increase growth and feed conversion, improve health status, increase disease resistance and decrease susceptibility to stress (Wuertz et al, 2021).…”

The multi-enzymes and probiotics mixture improves the growth performance, digestibility, intestinal health, and immune response of Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii)

“…The activation of skin mucus immunity is also observed in several fish-fed dietary probiotics (Dawood et al, 2017). Probiotics can boost immunity by increasing the release of enzymes and proteins in the bloodstream (Wuertz et al, 2021). In addition, exogenous enzymes increase macrophage and monocyte activation, resulting in increased immune-related cytokines (Mohammad and Mehran, 2010).…”

“…Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the most functional bacterial species associated with feed utilization, intestinal digestion, metabolic and physiological regulation, and the entire body's immunity (Melo-Bolívar et al, 2021). The feed utilization and digestion capacity of probiotics have been investigated in many studies related to aquatic animals (Wuertz et al, 2021). Various bacterial species (e.g., Bacillus, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus) were included in aquafeed (Adel et al, 2021).…”