Background: Global shrimp production continues to expand. Intensive rearing processes are evolving to optimize growth and efficiency to improve profitability. Intensive farming practices are not without their challenges. Solutions to modify or modulate gut microbiota may hold promise, including acidification of the gut. Cargill Branded Feed has developed a fermented plant protein that has shown to be beneficial at improving growth and conversion in L. vannamei.

Objective: To compare Motiv to a reference diet with similar and 5x the amount of lactic acid found in Motiv.

Location: Claude Peteet Mariculture Center, Alabama, USA.

Materials and Methods:

• A reference diet (34.8% crude protein, 8.5% crude lipid diet) was compared to Motiv, and control supplemented with lactic acid found at 1x and 5x the amount found in Motiv. 
• Juveniles from nursery system (initial mean weight 0.74 g) were stocked in 12 652-L tanks (three replicates per treatment), at a density of 30 shrimp/tank.
• Four dietary treatments were offered four times per day at 0700, 1100, 1500 and 1900 h. Daily feed input was calculated based upon an expected growth of 0.8 g wk–1 and an estimated FCR of 1.8.
• At the conclusion of the eight-week growth trial, shrimp were counted and group weighed. Mean final weight, final biomass, survival and FCR were determined.

Results (Table 1):

• Mean final weight in the Motiv group was significantly greater than the basal diet or the lactic acid supplement.
• Growth per week was significantly greater than the other treatment groups at 1.06 g/week, compared to 0.89 g/week.
• Feed conversion was significantly better in the Motiv group compared to the other treatment groups.
• Weight gain % tended to be better in the Motiv-fed shrimp (P=0.0920).

Table 1: Response of juvenile (0.74 g) L. vannamei to test diets over an eight-week growth trial in an indoor culture system

Conclusions:

• Shrimp on the Motiv treatment had a 19.2% improvement in weight gain.
• Motiv-supplemented shrimp demonstrated a 16.3% increase in feed conversion (FCR).
• Diets acidified with lactic acid did not show an impact on performance different from that of the control, indicating that acidification alone does not provide the benefit established by Motiv.
• Motiv included at macro levels provides healthy nutrition by improving overall diet utilization in shrimp, as evidenced by both gain and feed conversion.