An NMR-based metabolomic assessment of cultured cobia health in response to dietary manipulation

Commercial aquaculture feeds rely heavily on fishmeal and fish oil, which can be expensive and ecologically unsustainable. To evaluate the efficacy of reduced fishmeal diets for outgrowth, a dietary study was conducted on the finfish cobia, Rachycentron canadum. NMR-based metabolomic techniques were used to assess the effect of decreasing dietary fishmeal on the health of the cobia. Filtered serum ¹H NMR spectra analysed by principal components analysis (PCA) showed cobia fed reduced fishmeal diets were metabolically different than cobia on control diets. In particular, tyrosine and betaine increased in cobia fed reduced fishmeal diets while glucose decreased, suggesting that these cobia were not receiving the necessary nutritional components required for energy and growth. The formulated control diet contributed to enriched growth and significantly elevated lactate levels suggesting enhanced gut microflora metabolism in response to dietary components. The results show that NMR-based metabolomic analysis is a useful tool in aquaculture studies.     

气调包装军曹鱼片在冰温保鲜期间的品质变化分析

为了探明气调包装军曹鱼片在冰温保鲜期间的品质变化,本文以空气包装和真空包装为对照,研究了气调包装军曹鱼片在冰温贮藏期间的K值、细菌总数、TVB-N、pH值、持水性、汁液流失率、感官评价、质构等品质指标的变化规律。结果表明:气调包装鱼片的鲜度指标K值达到初期腐败值60%和细菌总数的最大限值106 CFU/g是18 d,比空气包装和真空包装分别延长了6 d和2 d,达到TVB-N含量最大限值0.30 mg/g是23 d,比空气组和真空组延长了9 d和7 d。气调包装样品的汁液流失率、pH值升高速度较对照组缓慢;气调包装鱼片的持水率、感官品质、质构参数、色泽的变化较对照组小。综合比较表明,冰温气调包装军曹鱼片比空气包装和真空包装分别延长了8~10 d和2~6 d的贮藏期,说明冰温气调包装具有较明显的延缓军曹鱼片的腐败变质,更适合应用于高品质军曹鱼片的保鲜贮藏。     

Characteristic and antioxidant activity of retorted gelatin hydrolysates from cobia (Rachycentron canadum) skin

Alkali-pretreated cobia (Rachycentron canadum) skin was extracted in a retort (121 °C) for 30 min to obtain a retorted skin gelatin hydrolysate (RSGH). The molecular mass distributions and antioxidant activities of cobia RSGH and enzyme-treated RSGHs (ET-RSGHs) derived from bromelain, papain, pancreatin, and trypsin digestion were then characterized. The molecular mass distribution of the RSGH ranged mainly between 20,000 and 700 Da and those of ET-RSGHs ranged between 6500 and 700 Da. The DPPH (α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging effects (%) of 10 mg/ml of RSGH and 10 mg/ml of the four ET-RSGHs were 55% and 51–61%, respectively. The lipid peroxidation inhibition (%) of RSGH and ET-RSGHs (10 mg/ml) were 58% and 60–71% on the fifth day in a linoleic acid model system, respectively. The 3Kd-ET-RSGHs, obtained by using a series of centrifugal ultrafiltration filters (molecular weight cut-offs of 10, 5, and 3 kDa done sequentially with decreasing pore size), exhibited dramatically improved antioxidant activity, with most of the molecular mass ranging below 700 Da. Compared to 10 mg/ml of the RSGH, 10 mg/ml of 3Kd-ET-RSGHs exhibited 45–65% more scavenging of DPPH radical and 24–38% more inhibition of lipid peroxidation. The peptides with molecular masses below 700 Da in the ET-RSGHs or 3Kd-ET-RSGHs significantly affect the antioxidant properties. These peptides are composed of a small number of amino acids or free amino acids and have the potential to be added as antioxidants in foods.     

Characteristics and chemical composition of skins gelatin from cobia (Rachycentron canadum)

Gelatin was obtained from cobia (Rachycentron canadum) skins, which is an important commercial species for marine fish aquaculture, and it was compared with gelatin from croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) skins, using the same extraction methodology (alkaline/acid pre-treatments). Cobia skins gelatin showed values of protein yield, gelatin yield, gel strength, melting point, gelling point and viscosity higher than the values found from croaker skins gelatin. The values of turbidity and Hue angle for cobia and croaker gelatins were 403 and 74 NTU, and 84.8° and 87.3°, respectively. Spectra in the infrared region had the major absorption band in the amide region for both gelatins, but it showed some differences in the spectra. The proline and hydroxyproline contents from cobia skins gelatin (205 residues/1000 residues) was higher than from croaker skins gelatin (188 residues/1000 residues). SDS-PAGE of both gelatins showed a similar molecular weight distribution to that of standard collagen type I. Therefore, cobia skins could be used as a potential marine source of gelatin obtainment for application in diversified industrial fields.     

Taurine Supplementation of Plant Derived Protein and n-3 Fatty Acids are Critical for Optimal Growth and Development of Cobia, Rachycentron canadum

We examined growth performance and the lipid content in juvenile cobia, Rachycentron canadum, fed a taurine supplemented (1.5 %), plant protein based diet with two fish oil replacements. The first fish oil replacement was a thraustochytrid meal (TM + SOY) plus soybean oil (~9 % CL) and the second was a canola oil supplemented with the essential fatty acids (EFA) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) (~8 % CL). The diet using the thraustochytrid meal plus soybean oil performed equivalently to the fish oil diet; both resulting in significantly higher growth rates, lower feed conversion ratios, and higher survival than the supplemented canola oil diet, even though all three diets were similar in overall energy and met known protein and lipid requirements for cobia. The poor performance of the canola oil diet was attributed to insufficient addition of EFA in the supplemented canola oil source. Increasing levels of EFA in the supplemented canola oil above 0.5 g EFA kg^?1 would likely improve results with cobia. When fish fed either of the fish oil replacement diets were switched to the fish oil control diet, fatty acid profiles of the fillets were observed to transition toward that of the fish oil diet and could be predicted based on a standard dilution model. Based on these findings, a formulated diet for cobia can be produced without fish products providing 100 % survivorship, specific growth rates greater than 2.45 and feed conversion ratios less than 1.5, as long as taurine is added and EFA levels are above 0.5 g EFA kg^?1.