Effect of dietary histamine supplementation on growth and tissue amine concentrations in blue shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris

Recent studies have shown that feeding diets supplemented with fish meal containing high levels of biogenic amines to shrimp reduced growth and feed consumption. An improvement in growth, however, has been found in shrimp fed a diet supplemented with histamine and cadaverine. The objective of the current experiment was to provide more information about the effect of dietary histamine on the growth of blue shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris and the impact on biogenic amine concentration in shrimp tissues. Six experimental diets were manufactured and supplemented with histamine at 0, 600, 1200, 2400, 3600 and 4800 mg kg and tested in a feeding trial for 28 days. Histamine supplementation did not have any effect on feed consumption, Ž . feed conversion ratio or survival. Weight gain fitted a quadratic dose response curve P-0.05 , y1 Ž with maximum values at 1200 and 2400 mg kg of dietary histamine weight gain being 8.8% . higher than for the control , and lower growth at higher doses. Spermidine concentration in whole shrimp tissue increased linearly with dietary histamine supplementation. It was concluded that dietary histamine supplementation at the levels tested does not have any negative effect on shrimp performance. Moreover, an improvement in weight gain was observed when histamine was supplemented at moderate levels. q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.