Effect of dietary
supplementation of vitamins C and E on maternal performance and larval
quality of the prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii
R.O.
Cavalli, F.M.M. Batista, P. Lavens, P. Sorgeloos, H.J. Nelis, A.P. De
Leenheer
Aquaculture, 227(1-4): 131-146
Abstract:
The effects of vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AA) and
vitamin E (tocopherol) on the maternal performance and offspring quality of
the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were investigated.
Prawn females were fed four diets containing different levels of 2-ascorbyl-
L-polyphosphate
(ApP) and α-tocopherol acetate (α -TA) during 155 days. Three
diets contained increasing AA levels (59, 121 and 918 µg g-1 DW)
and a basal level of α -TA (around 300 µg g-1 DW), while a
fourth diet contained comparatively higher α -TA
levels (899 µg g-1 DW) combined with 957 µg AA g-1
DW. Higher dietary levels of AA and α -TA did not affect moulting,
growth, or mortality rates of the broodstock. Also, breeding frequency and
fecundity were not related to the dietary treatments. However, the contents
of AA and α -tocopherol in the midgut gland, ovary, eggs, and newly
hatched larvae increased along with higher dietary levels of these vitamins.
Larvae from females fed higher levels of AA and α -TA tended to present
an increased tolerance when exposed to increasing ammonia concentrations.
The present results therefore suggest that broodstock diets containing
around 60 µg AA g-1 DW and 300 µg α -TA g-1 DW
are sufficient to ensure proper reproduction and offspring viability.
However, feeding M. rosenbergii females higher dietary levels of both
AA and α -TA (each around 900 µg g-1 DW) might increase
larval quality, as demonstrated in this study by the higher tolerance to the
exposure to ammonia.
(Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
(FURG), Departamento de Oceanografia, C.P. 474, 96201-900, Rio Grande, RS,
Brazil, e-mail: cavalli@mikrus.com.br)