Modern shrimp feed formulation demands greater flexibility and cost-efficiency without compromising growth performance and production outcomes. In recent decades, rising raw material costs have led to the reduction of key lipid nutrients , such as phospholipids, cholesterol and n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) , in commercial grow-out feeds. Formulating solely on minimum nutritional requirements increases the risk of underperformance due to variability in raw material composition. To address this challenge , metabolic enhancers such as lyso -phospholipids (LPL) and bile salts (BS) have emerged as promising functional feed additives. These compounds improve lipid emulsification , absorption and utilization, thereby supporting consistent growth and feed efficiency even under reduced lipid input strategies.
This presentation reviews a series of trials evaluating the use of LPL and BS in feed for Litopenaeus vannamei, focusing on their potential to optimize their performance quality under restricted essential lipids levels . The first trial investigated LPL in feeds with low EPA/DHA and cholesterol levels. Conducted over 7 weeks with 1 g shrimp, results showed cholesterol was more limiting than EPA/DHA, and LPL supplementation enhanced growth performance by 8% and 7%, respectively versus the negative control. A nother 6-week trial with 3 g shrimp found that LPL supplementation improved growth performance by 14% and efficiency by 13% in feeds with reduced phospholipid levels (Table 1).
Regarding BS supplementation, a first 8-weeks trial with 1 g shrimp demonstrated that adding BS in feeds with restricted lipid levels restored the performance, improving by 14% growth and 16% feed efficiency compared to the negative control. A second trial with 3 g shrimp and running for 11-weeks, evaluated the partial replacement of supplemented cholesterol with BS and confirmed that BS can effectively maintain shrimp performance (Table 2). Together, these findings demonstrate the potential of digestive enhancers like LPL and BS to support nutrient utilization and production efficiency in shrimp feeds.