Whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) production is on the rise worldwide and whilst one of the qualitative aspects of the final product for the consumer is its pigmentation, the cost of dietary carotenoids in the shrimps’ diets is far from negligeable. The aim of the present trial was to assess the potential of a standardized natural plant extract (PX100, Nor-Feed, France) to optimized shrimp pigmentation with and without reduction of the astaxanthin (AST) content in the shrimps’ diet. 360 SPF P. vannamei weighing 1.00±0.11g were randomly divided into 3 groups of 120 shrimps each, subdivided into 3 tanks. stocked with 40 shrimps each (100pcs/m3). The 3 groups received the same basal diet with either 40ppm AST added on top for the control diet (CTL), 40ppm AST and 600ppm PX100 (PX100) or 20ppm AST and 600ppm PX100 (50% AST) for 42 days. At the end of the supplementation period, 24 shrimps per tank were slaughtered in an ice bath and then simultaneously cooked. Their color was then assessed blindly using a DSM SalmoFan. Statistical analyses were carried out using R software. The supplementation with PX100 led to a significant improvement of shrimp pigmentation in all groups receiving it, irrelevant of their astaxanthin content (p<0.05). Interestingly, removing 50% of astaxanthin in presence of PX100 did not lead to an alteration of skin pigmentation, but to the contrary, to a significant increase of it. Overall, zootechnical performances were not significantly different between group. Interesting numerical improvement were however observed on FCR, SGR (Fig. 1) and on final biomass with an increase of +1.1% and +2.9% final biomass on average for groups 50% AST and PX100 vs. CTL group respectively (average final biomass per tank: CTL: 381g, 50% AST: 385g, PX100: 392g)
PX100 has shown a very interesting beneficial role in shrimp coloration and could thus be used in the pigmentation strategy to attenuate the overall cost of the latter at the same time as improving performances.