1H-NMR-Based Metabolic Profiling in Muscle and Liver Tissue of Juvenile Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) Fed with Plant and Animal Protein Sources

Abstract

Circular economy driven feed ingredients and emerging protein sources, such as insects and microbial meals, has the potential to partially replace fishmeal in diets of high-trophic fish. Even though growth and feed performance are often unaffected at low inclusion levels, the metabolic effects are unknown. This study examined the metabolic response of juvenile turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) to diets with graded fishmeal replacement with plant, animal, and emerging protein sources (PLANT, PAP, and MIX) in comparison to a commercial-like diet (CTRL). A 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to assess the metabolic profiles of muscle and liver tissue after feeding the fish the experimental diets for 16 weeks. The comparative approach revealed a decrease in metabolites that are associated with energy deficiency in both tissues of fish fed with fishmeal-reduced diets compared to the commercial-like diet (CTRL). Since growth and feeding performance were unaffected, the observed metabolic response suggests that the balanced feed formulations, especially at lower fishmeal replacement levels, have the potential for industry application.

The biophysics of water in cell biology: perspectives on a keystone for both marine sciences and cancer research

“…Interestingly, his investigations connect with previous studies based on the combination of 1 H-NMR relaxometry and spectroscopy on the evolution of bound ('structured') water during the early development of turbot (Psetta maxima) (Pouliquen et al, 1998) (Figure 2). Our results could be reinterpreted in the light of reports confirming the presence of TMAO in extracts of juvenile turbot (Hoerterer et al, 2023), and in oocytes of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), showing increased TMAO levels with post-ovulation time (Hajirezaee et al, 2021). The considerable variability we observed in the spin-lattice relaxation times of structured (unfrozen) water could be related to TMAO content changes, connected to its role in stabilizing protein structure during yolk protein proteolysis post-ovulation.…”