Effects of the Inclusion of Kimchi Lactic Acid Bacterial Culture in Extruded Pellets on the Growth, Body Composition and Immune Response of Juvenile Olive Flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

Abstract

This study was performed to determine effects of the supplementation of Kimchi lactic acid bacterial culture in extruded pellets (EP) on the growth, body composition, blood chemistry and immune response of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Four hundred eighty individuals averaging 16.1 g were randomly distributed into 12, 180 L flow-through tanks (forty fish per tank). Four concentrations of Kimchi lactic acid bacterial culture (KL) were prepared: Control (0%), 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.5%. Three concentrations (0.1%, 0.2% and 0.5%) of Kimchi lactic acid bacterial culture were each diluted to 10% of EP weight and then fully absorbed by EP for 10 minutes. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of fish. Fish were hand-fed to apparent satiation twice a day for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8-week feeding trial, the plasma lysozyme and bacterial activities of fish were determined. In addition, the cumulative mortality of fish was monitored for 8 days after their artificial infection with Edwardsiella tarda. The weight gain, specific growth rate, feed efficiency ratio, protein efficiency ratio, protein retention, hepatosomatic index and condition factor of fish were not affected by dietary supplementation with KL. None of the proximate composition, plasma parameters, lysozyme or bactericidal activities of fish was affected by dietary supplementation with KL. However, the cumulative mortalities of fish fed EP containing 0.1% and 0.5% Kimchi lactic acid bacterial culture were relatively low compared to that of fish fed the control diet. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with KL did not effectively improve growth, feed utilization, body composition, plasma chemistry, lysozyme, bactericidal activities or immune response of olive flounder after E. tarda infection under these experimental conditions.