ISSUE FOCUS 26 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE September 2022 The shrimp industry is facing several ongoing challenges, including disease outbreaks caused by bacteria, as well as viruses and parasites like acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND/EMS), white feces disease, white spot virus (WSV), and EHP (Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei) infections. Indiscriminate, or illegal, use of antibiotics on the farm level has rendered many antibiotics useless. Now, farmers are left with few tools to combat these challenges. In response to this need, innovative feed additives are being called upon to help. Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), with their successes in mitigating diseases and supporting antibiotic bans in terrestrial animals, have emerged as a potential new tool in the management of shrimp diseases. Medium-chain fatty acids are defined as saturated fatty acids with carbon chains of 6 to 12 atoms long and consist of caproic (C6), caprylic (C8), capric (C10), and lauric (C12) acids. These fatty acids occur naturally as triglyceride structures found in various feed ingredients. Agrimprove has a strong, scientifically backed, history in transforming these triglycerides into free fatty acids to produce proprietary combinations of MCFAs for different species including pigs, poultry, cattle, salmon, and shrimp. The unique chemical structure determines the specific biological functions of the MCFA. These functions include inhibitory activity on the gramnegative bacteria vibrio (the root cause of many shrimp diseases), antimicrobial activity against both bacterial and viral pathogens, reducing pathogen virulence, improving intestinal morphology, and minimizing injury to hepatopancreas. With MCFAs known biological functions on land animals, several studies were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of MCFAs in shrimp. The summaries provided below indicate that MCFA blends, like Aromabiotic® Aqua, can help reduce or prevent dependence on antibiotics and produce healthier shrimp. MCFA IN VITRO TESTS ONTHE INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF VIBRIO Agar plates were prepared with V. alginolyticus or V. harveyi (each at 3 x 108 CFU/ml) at a 7.2 pH. Six holes were created and were filled with 10, 50, 100, 200, and 500 mg/ml MCFAs respectively, while the center hole filled with a reagent without A NOVEL ANTIBIOTIC ALTERNATIVE FOR SHRIMP DISEASES, MEDIUM-CHAIN FATTY ACIDS Fuci Guo Global Category Manager Aquaculture Agrimprove
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