FISH MEAL REPLACEMENT BY PLANT PROTEIN SOURCES IN GILTHEAD SEA BREAM (SPARUS AURATA): EFFECTS ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND NON-SPECIFIC DEFENCE MECHANISMS

摘要

The increased demand, price, and world supply fluctuations of fish meal (FM) have emphasized the need to look for alternative protein sources. In the last years, many different protein sources have been studied for fish species. Previous studies in gilthead sea bream have shown that only a limited replacement of fish meal by plant protein (PP) is possible. In the current study, the effect of feeding with FM-replaced diets on growth, gut integrity, liver architecture, and immune status at a mid-term was evaluated.