Screening natural prebiotic extracts for development of symbiotic for aquaculture

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a relevant synbiotic to promote growth performance of the white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Four common natural prebiotic extracts from Arcera banana, Siamese banana, yellow sweet potato, and white sweet potato were screened for supporting the growth of Lactobacillus sp. which isolated from white shrimp intestines with probiotic activity, prebiotic score, and abilities to induce bacterial enzyme activities of protease, leu-aminopeptidase, and -amylase. Results showed that Lactobacillus sp. was able to utilize all extracts from banana and sweet potato as the soles carbon sources. At 24 h of culture, growth of Lactobacillus sp. was highest after adding the extract from white sweet potato as the sole carbon source. Considering pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio harveyi, white sweet potato extract had the highest prebiotic score with a mean of 0.25 as compared with those of V. parahaemolyticus with a mean of 0.16. White sweet potato extract induced the highest activities of protease, leu aminopeptidase, and -amylase by Lactobacillus sp. These results indicated that white sweet potato extract was more suitable for combining with Lactobacillus sp. as a synbiotic for shrimp culture.