Optimization of Probiotic Dosage in Tomato Meal-Enriched Diet to Improve Growth and Feed Utilization Efficiency in Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Abstract

Probiotics and prebiotics are promising functional feed additives in aquaculture because they can improve gut health, nutrient utilization, growth, and survival of cultured aquatic species. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different probiotic dosages in a tomato meal enriched diet on growth performance, feed utilization efficiency, and survival of whiteleg shrimp. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design consisting of four treatment and three replicates. The treatments included PR-5, PR-10, and PR-15, representing tomato meal-enriched diet supplemented with 5, 10, and 15 mL probiotic/kg feed, respectively, and WPR, representing tomato meal-enriched diet without probiotic supplementation. The shrimp were reared for 30 days and evaluated for weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency, and survival rate. The results showed that probiotic supplementation significantly affected weight gain, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency, and survival rate (P < 0.05), but did not significantly affect specific growth rate on day 15 or day 30 (P > 0.05). The PR-15 treatment produced the highest weight gain of 7.53 g, the lowest feed conversion ratio of 15.68, the highest feed efficiency of 6.39%, and the highest survival rate of 80.00%. These findings indicate that supplementation with 15 mL probiotic/kg feed in a tomato-meal enriched diet was the most effective treatment for improving growth performance, feed utilization efficiency, and survival of whiteleg shrimp. Therefore, this dietary strategy may support more efficient and sustainable whiteleg shrimp culture.