Dietary effect of Artemia urmiana enriched with a brown macroalgae premix (Padina australis, Sargassum ilicifolium, and Stoechospermum marginatum) on the growth performance, nutritional value, phytochemical, and antioxidant properties of Litopenaeus vannamei

The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effects of Artemia urmiana metanauplii enriched with a premix extract of brown macroalgae including Padina australis, Sargassum ilicifolium, and Stoechospermum marginatum (macroalgae premix extract; MPE) on growth performance, survival, carcass quality traits, and antioxidant properties of Litopenaeus vannamei (PL15). A total of 1200 PL1(19±0.97 mg) were randomly divided into 4 groups (100 individuals in each group (in triplicate)). The control group was fed only with non-enriched metanauplii (MPE0) and other groups were fed with metanauplii enriched with 200 (MPE200), 400 (MPE400), and 600 (MPE600) mg L-1 for 15 days. Our findings revealed that the highest specific growth ratio (SGR), percentage weight gain (WG), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and dry matter were recorded in the group fed with MPE600-enriched metanauplii. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the group fed with MPE600 was less than in other experimental treatments (p<0.05). The highest levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid(ARA), total sterols, and total amino acid content were observed in the shrimp fed with metanauplii enriched with MPE600 (p<0.05). The phenol, flavonoid, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) contents were increased by increasing levels of MPE in themetanauplii diet (p<0.05). This study demonstrates the positive effect of metanauplii enrichment with 600 mg L-1MPE on growth performance, carcass quality, and antioxidant properties of L.vannamei.