11 minute read
OREGANO ESSENTIAL OIL
Natural oregano essential oil sustainably supports gut health for optimal performance
Lawrence Brown, Anpario plc
In aquaculture production, supporting optimum gut health can have a beneficial impact on health and performance. Ensuring a healthy gut, in terms of both the gut structure and microbial population, can be fundamental in maximizing producer profitability which is of great importance, particularly with rising costs of raw materials and feed manufacturing.
A well-balanced and diverse gut microbiome is known as a state of eubiosis. It is well recognized that eubiosis has a profound impact on metabolic and immune homeostasis, ultimately having a direct effect on fish and shrimp health and wellbeing. Optimal gut health is associated with the proliferation of beneficial bacteria, as well as assisting in natural digestive processes and endogenous enzyme activity. This helps support the absorption of nutrients, leading to improved feed conversion and better growth performance.
With proven efficacy across a multitude of species, phytogenic feed additives can provide a multitude of benefits in supporting aquaculture health and performance. The Orego-Stim range from Anpario is developed from a unique source of 100% natural oregano essential oil (OEO) and contains multiple compounds which work in synergy to offer several welldocumented properties and functions. This includes antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antioxidant functions. Such properties mean that fish and shrimp health and performance can be maintained while supporting antibiotic-free production systems.
While there are many phytogenic products available on the market for aquaculture producers, with the aim of supporting profitability, aqua health and performance and a reduction in antibiotic use, it is important that a natural source of the plant oil is used for optimum efficiency. 2009 research conducted on catfish has shown that natural sources of OEO, such as that found in Anpario’s Orego-Stim range, are more efficient than synthetic oils. Zheng et al. (2009) reported a significantly greater body weight gain, a significantly improved feed conversion ratio and numerically greater
Figure 1. Effect of Orego-Stim Plus (Anpario plc) supplementation on shrimp performance and incidence of infection.
Figure 2. (A) Average increase in total biomass (kg) over the study period. (B) Average feed conversion ratio (FCR) for the study period. (C) Average mortality (%) over the study period.
survivability in catfish supplemented with Orego-Stim compared to synthetic sources of thymol, carvacrol or a combination of the two.
Shrimp trials
Oxytetracycline (70%) (OTC-70) is an antibiotic commonly used in shrimp farming for the control of Necrotising Hepatopancreatitis (NHP) and other bacterial diseases. A commercial study was recently undertaken at a shrimp farm in Ecuador. This farm routinely used 7 kg/tonne of OTC-70 for one week to assist in the control of NHP. The study aimed to determine if Orego-Stim Plus could maintain shrimp performance and a low incidence of bacterial challenge in the absence of OTC-70. The pond contained 952,000 shrimp with a starting weight of 8.3 g. Shrimp were fed a standard diet supplemented with 6 kg/tonne of Orego-Stim Plus for one week, instead of the 7 kg/tonne of OTC-70.
Shrimp diets supplemented with Orego-Stim Plus maintained shrimp health and performance. Shrimp demonstrated above-average growth compared to previous OTC-70 treatment, decreased mortality, and a reduction in NHP, White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Vibrio (Fig. 1). This particular farm estimated a cost saving of approximately USD 500 over the course of the one-week period when using Orego-Stim Plus compared to the cost of treating shrimp with OTC70. Supplementation of this phytogenic containing 100% natural OEO not only offers producers the potential to reduce production costs but can also help reduce industry antibiotic usage, safeguarding their future efficacy.
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Tilapia trials
In addition to proven efficacy in shrimp production, trials have demonstrated success in tilapia production, particularly in the absence of antibiotics. Florfenicol is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, commonly used to treat bacterial infection in aquaculture species. A commercial trial conducted in Mexico over a 28-day period showed that 100% natural OEO supplementation provides a cost-effective solution to maintain tilapia production in the absence of florfenicol. Tilapia were subjected to one of two dietary treatments, either a medicated diet with florfenicol (20 mg/kg biomass from 1-7 days) or a standard diet supplemented with OEO (Orego-Stim Plus at 5 kg/t from 1-14 days).
Compared to tilapia treated with florfenicol, supplementation of the natural, sustainable OEO additive resulted in a 50% higher total biomass increase (Fig. 2A) and a 23% improvement in feed conversion ratio (Fig. 2B). In addition, mortality figures were 5.1% lower than tilapia treated with florfenicol (Fig. 2C), reducing the incidence of mortality by 48%. These benefits resulted in a return on investment of 30:1 for this production system.
Conclusions
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that fish from aquaculture for human consumption was projected to rise to 59% by 2030, an increase of approximately 19 million tonnes from 2022 to 2030. It is, therefore, more important than ever to provide aquaculture producers with natural, sustainable solutions to help meet the demands of the growing population, while supporting antibiotic-free production in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The properties of 100% natural oregano essential oil make it one such solution, helping support aquaculture gut health to optimize health, performance and producer profitability in the absence of antibiotics.
References available on request.
More information: Dr Lawrence Brown
Senior Technical and Account Manager for Aqua Anpario plc E: lawrence.brown@anpario.com
Antioxidant technology helps optimize feed costs and performance
Dr. Stephanie Ladirat, NUQO©
Every day, animals face various kinds of stress: changes in diet or raw material quality, hot temperature, diseases, handling and manipulations, etc. Stress triggers the production of free reactive radicals in cells that oxidize lipids or proteins. These free radicals are normally regulated but under stress conditions, free radicals’ level can increase dramatically and results in significant damage to cell structures and, to some extent, affect the performance and/or health of the animal, including fish and shrimp species.
A strategic approach of natural antioxidants for aquaculture
In order to avoid negative effects from oxidative stress, cells contain naturally present antioxidant mechanisms. In an ideal situation, a balance between oxidation and antioxidant mechanisms is established safeguarding cell integrity and function. Antioxidant mechanisms mitigate cell oxidative stress by neutralizing reactive radicals.
In highly productive animals or during stressful periods, additional components with antioxidant capacity are often provided on top of the naturally present antioxidant mechanisms in the body to support the health of animals. Many ingredients have shown interesting antioxidant effects. More precisely, several groups of molecules have shown an effect to help balance oxidation and antioxidant mechanisms in the organism. Among these groups, different types of natural ingredients containing polyphenols have shown antioxidant effects.
Polyphenols are natural compounds present in plants with numerous biological activities. Several studies have explored the properties of polyphenols in antiinflammation and oxidation, the mechanisms involved in signaling pathways activated upon oxidative stress, as well as the possible roles of polyphenols in specific disorders. Polyphenols are present in herbs, spices, stems, flowers, etc. and even seaweeds. They are the secondary metabolites of plants involved in the defensive system.
It is difficult to determine the best source of natural antioxidants. Environmental factors, such as the type of the soil, exposure to light, rainfall, culture methods, and fruit yield per tree, have a strong impact on final concentration and activity. In vitro methods are a good preliminary approach to evaluating antioxidants, nevertheless, in vivo trials are necessary to validate solutions. The scientific approach to determine the
Figure 1. Antioxidant activity and variability among sources.
ideal solution can therefore be split into two steps: the evaluation of individual ingredients and their variability; and the formulation of optimal ingredients.
To illustrate the variability of ingredients, a recent work (Fig. 1) measured the antioxidant activity of phlorotannins from various seaweeds and various geographic origins. Phlorotannins are a type of polyphenols found in brown algae such as kelps and that can only be found in seaweeds. This study showed that between seaweeds or even for the same species, variability can be very high. The same applies to other plants. This is why formulators need to carefully select the source and the quality of antioxidants to guarantee consistent quality and efficacy in feed.
Regarding formulation or the selection of solutions, considering the numbers of natural antioxidants, this can be a very time-consuming activity, but not to say a total waste of time. More importantly, several studies have highlighted the potential synergies between different sources of polyphenols (Liu, 2004). When combining polyphenols from four different sources, the dose-response curve of antioxidant activity was shifted to the left and the median effective dose (EC50) of the combination was five times lower than the EC50 of each single source, suggesting synergistic effects when combining sources. As a matter of fact, combining various sources of polyphenols looks like the most strategic and most resilient approach.
Strengthening the antioxidant pool for more resilience
Countless studies have shown the potential of natural antioxidants to strengthen or complement the activity of other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, in feed. This effect is well documented, for many commercial solutions. The interest for such application is driven by technical and economic considerations and is of high interest in case of a price crisis.
Recent trials made with an exclusive blend of natural antioxidants, including polyphenols from fruits, vegetables and seaweeds, showed how these solutions could be used to optimize formulations and maintain the performance of animals. There is now sufficient evidence globally to invest in such a strategy, even though this depends of course on the level of supplementation and the formulation of feed, as well as the economic environment and potential savings.
Optimizing feed costs and performance
While farm animals are expected to perform at the top of their genetic potential, oxidative stress tends to occur during normal conditions as well. Supplementation of natural antioxidants supports the animal to overcome all kinds of environmental stressors during its highly productive life. It can also be used to optimize formulation and vitamin supplementation.
Recently, a trial was set up to measure the effects of partially replacing vitamin E (control) with a solution combining polyphenols from selected plants and seaweeds/algae origin. In this test, shrimp received a commercial diet with a level of vitamin E equivalent to 600 IU or alternative treatments where part of Vitamin E was substituted with a combination of polyphenols from plants and seaweeds. Results showed that replacing >50% of the vitamin E with the new technology did not impair the performance of shrimp. The alternative treatments (combinations with vitamin E and natural antioxidants) even numerically decreased FCR and improved survival rate at 45 days. Regarding the impact on economics, the combination triggered substantial savings for the producer for equal performance. In addition, the producer got the benefits and income of the additional yield per pond observed (NUQO©, 2021).
Figure 2. Impact of stress on farm animals and possible applications of antioxidants.
The results of this field trial showed that partially replacing vitamin E with this new technology, combining polyphenols from plants and seaweeds, did not impair growth performance after 42 days. Including this technology in the diets thus allows nutritionists to optimize feed formulation to reduce cost or manage risks during crises or price increases of ingredients like vitamin E.
Optimizing formulation and securing performance
In conclusion, natural antioxidants based on a rigorous process of selection and formulation, can be considered a flexible tool for nutritionists, to optimize feed formulations over time, and represent as well a good tool to mitigate the negative effects of various stress and challenges. The new generation of natural antioxidants, combining high quality and consistent sources of phytogenics and phycogenics (ie, metabolites from plants and seaweeds) now offer new perspectives to nutritionists to support the performance of shrimp and fish farms, reduce health challenges, maintain performance and/or reduce feed costs.
More information: Dr. Stephanie Ladirat
Technology and R&D Director NUQO© E: info@nuqo.eu
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