Effects of probiotic mixtures in the diet on growth performance, hematological indices, immunity and antioxidant capacity of Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) juveniles

In the present study, the effects of different probiotics mixtures on growth performance, hematology and antioxidant capacity of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) juveniles (30 g). In this study, three bacterial mixtures were used that were isolated from the native aquatic species of Khuzestan and the South of the country, which include: the first group includes different strains of Lactobacillus plantarum, the second group includes L. plantarum with a mixture of L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus and L. rahamnosus and the third group includes the mixture of bacteria of the first and second groups along with the mixture of Bacillus cereus and B. thuringiensis, which were identified through their quorum quenching features and isolated from Asian sea bass. Four treatments were designed by spraying various bacterial mixture on a basal diet, which included diet (1, control group) on which only sterile physiological serum was sprayed on the diet, diet (2) on which the bacterial mixture of the first group was sprayed on the diet, diet (3) on which the mixture of bacteria of the second group was sprayed and diet (4) which was the mixture of all bacteria was sprayed on it and fed to the fish. The fish was fed with the experimental diets four times a day up to satiation at 30.5 °C for 100 days. In this study, the fish that was fed with 2, 3 and 4 diets had a higher growth performance than the control (p < 0.05), which was associated with an improvement in the food conversion ratio. Blood and antioxidant indices were improved in the fish fed with diets containing probiotics mixture. Treatment 4 had more total plasma protein and albumin than other treatments. In conclusion, the use of a mixture of different probiotics increased growth in Asian seabass that associated with improved health indices in this species.