Effect of dietary probiotics on apparent digestibility coefficients of nutrients of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei Boone

Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), lipid, phosphorus (P), essential amino acids (EAA), non-essential amino acids (NEAA) and fatty acids were determined for white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). A probiotic (Bacillus sp.) was used at 0% (diet 1), 0.5% (diet 2), 1.0% (diet 3), 3.0% (diet 4) and 5.0% (diet 5) inclusion rates in experiment diets. Apparent digestibility coefficients was determined using 0.01% Y2O3 as an indicator. A total of 300 shrimp (initial mean body weight 11.5±0.6 g) were randomly stocked into fifteen 500-L outdoor concrete tanks. Faeces were collected from three replicate groups of shrimp three times a day. The ADCs of five diets were: DM, 66.1–69.6%; CP, 80.4–84.7%; lipid, 82.2–84.9%; P, 25.4–28.5%; EAA, 82.0–85.4%; NEAA, 81.5–85.1%; saturated fatty acids (SFA), 79.6–82.4%; monounsaturates (MUFA), 81.6–84.2% and polyunsaturates (PUFA)+highly unsaturates (HUFA), 83.4–86.6%. Apparent digestibility coefficients of DM, CP, lipid, P, amino acids and fatty acids in diet 1 were significantly lower than in other diets (P<0.05). Apparent digestibility coefficient of P in diets increased as probiotic increased. Apparent digestibility coefficient of lipid in diet 3 was the highest, but the difference was not significant among diets. In general, ADCs of most amino acids and fatty acids were over 80% in all diets, and PUFA+HUFA>MUFA>SFA. The results showed that ADCs of diets supplemented with 10, 30 and 50 g probiotic kg−1 basal diet were higher than in other diets except lipid, and the difference was significant.