Inclusion of Amazonian Mauritia flexuosa fruit pulp as functional feed in the diet for the juvenile Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

This study investigated the effects of the inclusion of Mauritia flexuosa fruit pulp in the diet on the growth performance, economic benefit, muscle composition, total contents of carotenoids and flavonoids, chromaticity parameters, total antioxidant capacity, and lipid peroxidation in the hepatopancreas and muscle of the juvenile shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (weighing 1.26 ± 0.023 g). Five diets (37% protein, 10% lipid) consisting of 0 (control), 1.25%, 2.50%, 5.00% and 10.00% (w/w) M. flexuosa fruit pulp were formulated and provided to the shrimps (n = 50 per tank, treatments in triplicate) for 31 days. Results showed that there were no significant differences between the treatments in terms of the growth capacity, chromaticity parameters, muscle composition and total flavonoid content of shrimps (p > .05). However, the carotenoid content in the muscle and hepatopancreas of the shrimps was significantly increased due to the dietary carotenoids present in M. flexuosa fruit pulp (p < .05). This increase in the carotenoid content directly favoured the increase in the antioxidant capacity in the hepatopancreas and muscle of the shrimps (R² = 0.99 and R² = 0.97 respectively; p < .05). There was also a direct relationship between the carotenoid content and the decrease in lipid peroxidation in the hepatopancreas (R² = 0.90; p < .05). The feed cost kg^?1 in terms of weight gain and protein production decreased with the inclusion of high levels of M. flexuosa fruit pulp, reaching 8.11% and 18.76% of cost reduction, respectively, with the addition of 5.00% of M. flexuosa fruit pulp. Therefore, the inclusion of M. flexuosa fruit pulp in the diets of shrimp can increase the carotenoid content and the antioxidant capacity in the hepatopancreas and muscle, reduce lipid peroxidation in the hepatopancreas, and probably provide economic benefits for the rearing of juvenile shrimps.