A blend of microalgae and cyanobacteria produced from industrial waste outputs for the enrichments of Artemia salina: Effects on growth performance, antioxidant status and anomalies rate of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae

12 pages, 4 figures, tables.-- Under a Creative Commons license

The recent fast development of the microalgae-related biotechnologies has enabled the availability of sustainable and nutrients-rich raw materials to be used as substitution of conventional sources in aquafeed formulation. However the cost of energy of the photobioreactors used to produce these microorganisms still constrained their wider inclusion into aquafeed compounds. By exploiting industrial waste outputs, Nannochloropsis sp. and Spirulina sp. were produced and utilised to formulate two experimental enrichments (LM1 and LM2). During a 60 days trial, their efficacy have been tested as Artemia metanauplii enrichments in the diet of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae, in comparison to a commercial control. Larvae were fed with isonitrogenous and isolipidic dietary treatments. Each dietary treatment presented a specific profile for the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids ARA, DHA and EPA. Ratio of DHA/EPA in enriched Artemia of 4:1 as in the case of LM1 and LM2 in the presence of 1.4% of ARA (as a % on total fatty acid) guaranteed equal results to the control which displayed a ratio of DHA/EPA of 2:1 with 2.2% of ARA. No significant effects of the dietary treatments were detected in final survival, growth performance and incidence of skeletal anomalies. Regarding oxidative status, larvae fed with LM2 enrichment presented lower catalase activity than control larvae with no signs of oxidative damage, suggesting a potential antioxidant effect of LM2. The present study contributes to expanding the existing literature on successful utilisation of microalgae and cyanobacteria, used to produce valuable nutrients, in a perspective of circular nutrients economy

This research was funded by the project SUSTAINFEED (EIT-Food 21168, Co-funded by the European Union). The author Elisa Benini was supported by the Project code CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP J33C22001190001, Project title “National Biodiversity Future Centre—NBFC” under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.4—Call for tender No. 3138 of 16 December 2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of 18 December 2021 of Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union—NextGenerationEU

Peer reviewed