New Strategy for the Degradation of High-Concentration Sodium Alginate with Recombinant Enzyme 102C300C-Vgb and the Beneficial Effects of Its Degradation Products on the Gut Health of Stichopus japonicus

High viscosity of alginate means a relatively low substrate concentration, which limits the efficiency of hydrolysis, resulting in one of the main challenges for the large-scale production of alginate oligosaccharides (AOS). In this study, a pilot-scale degradation product (PSDP) of the recombinant enzyme 102C300C-Vgb was produced for the first time at a substrate concentration of up to 20% sodium alginate. The optimal conditions for SA digestion were: enzyme dosage of 25 U/g, enzymatic temperature of 45 °C, enzymatic pH of 7.0, and enzymatic time of 24 h. Under these conditions, the yield of enzymatic hydrolysis was consistently in the range of 69% to 70%. The average molecular weight (Mw) of PSDP was 1496.36 Da, mainly containing oligosaccharides with degrees of polymerization ranging from 2 to 4. The low-Mw PSDP was subsequently applied in the diet of sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus. The results showed that the body wall weight of S. japonicus increased significantly after 40 days of feeding with a 0.09% PSDP-supplemented diet. Furthermore, PSDP-supplemented diet significantly increased the thickness of the serosal and submucosal layers and the width folds of mucosa of the sea cucumber gut. The abundance of pathogenic bacteria was reduced effectively, and that of beneficial bacteria increased significantly after being fed with PSDP. The results demonstrated that PSDP can serve as a digestive health enhancer for sea cucumbers, promoting their healthy growth.