The effect of replacement of fish meal by yeast extract on the digestibility, growth and muscle composition of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Feeding trials were conducted to determine the dietary level of yeast extract (YE) for replacing dietary fish meal for evaluating whether yeast extract was superior to intact yeast as an alternative protein source for shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. The basal diet (control, D0, containing 25% fish meal), was compared with five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets [replacing 15% (D15), 30% (D30), 45% (D45), 60% (D60) or 100% (D100) of the fish meal in the basal diet with IYE]. The digestibility, growth and muscle composition of the shrimp were measured. The results showed that all replacement treatments displayed higher apparent digestibility of crude protein than did the control. The trypsinase activity in shrimp hepatopancreas increased significantly, whereas lipase activity decreased as the amount of dietary YE increased. The shrimp treated with D30 diet displayed the highest amylase activity in hepatopancreas. There was no significant difference in the weight gain (WG) and survival of shrimp between the control and the YE replacement treatments. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) increased as the dietary YE increased, and the FCRs of the D60 and the D100 treatments were significantly higher than that of the control (P<0.05). The growth performance among the treatments was closely related to the similarity of the essential amino acids in the diets. There was no significant difference in muscle composition of the shrimp between control and other treatments. In conclusion, up to approximately 45% of the fish meal in shrimp diet can be replaced by yeast extract in the presence of supplemental fish oil, phosphorus and calcium.