Towards the Identification of a Suitable Commercial Diet for Carpione (Salmo carpio, Linnaeus 1758): A Multidisciplinary Study on Fish Performances, Animal Welfare and Quality Traits

Abstract

Carpione (Salmo carpio, Linnaeus 1758) is an endangered precious endemism of Lake Garda (Northern Italy), the largest Italian lake. To date, several bottlenecks about its culture remain unsolved, including the identification of a proper growth-out diet. The aim of the present study was to test four different grossly isolipidic, isoproteic, and isoenergetic diets in which the main ingredients had a different origin. Specifically, a diet currently used by local farmers for carpione culture, largely based on marine ingredients, was used as control (CTRL), while the other three diets were formulated by partially replacing marine ingredients with plant ones (VEG) or with different percentages of processed animal proteins (PAP1 and PAP2). The feeding trial was run in triplicate, over a three-month period. No significant differences in growth performance among the experimental groups were observed. However, remarkable histological alterations and inflammatory markers upregulation were observed in VEG group, while PAP inclusion played a role in attenuating inflammation and improving nutrient uptake. Fillet analyses highlighted significant differences in marketable traits and flesh fatty acid composition among the experimental groups, including the reduction of polyunsaturated fatty acids related to PAPs inclusion. In conclusion, PAPs used in the present study promoted S. carpio gut health and absorption capacity, while further studies are required to maintain proper quality traits of the final product.

Enhancing Rearing of European Seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in Aquaponic Systems: Investigating the Effects of Enriched Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Prepupae Meal on Fish Welfare and Quality Traits

“…Regarding aquafeed production, several ingredients have been investigated as promising alternatives to replace conventional and less sustainable marine-derived ingredients, such as fish meal (FM) and oil [ 6 ], including plant-based ingredients [ 7 , 8 ], processed animal proteins [ 9 , 10 ], protein sources derived from aquatic invertebrates [ 11 , 12 ], and microbial biomasses [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Effect of different stunning methods on rigor mortis, shape, energetic status and physical characteristics of Salmo carpio fillets

“…23 Several conservation strategies have been implemented to safeguard S. carpio and to answer the market demand for its fillets, which have a high commercial value in Italy (35-40 € kg −1 ). Local farmers and researchers have made several attempts to rear it, following non-specific farming protocols, from feeding strategies 24 to stunning procedures. The specific objective of this study was to evaluate the integrated response of this species to electrical stunning or cold shock by immersion in iced water.…”