Effects of Tributyrin Supplementation in High-Soybean-Meal Diet on Growth Performance, Hemolymph and Hepatopancreas Immune and Antioxidant Parameters, and Intestinal Morphology of Juvenile Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

The effects of dietary tributyrin (TB) supplementation in juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei fed a high-soybean-meal diet were evaluated in an 8-week growth trial. The basal diet contained 24% fishmeal, while the experimental diet was supplemented with TB at 2.24 g kg−1. Tanks were randomly assigned each dietary treatment in triplicate, with each tank consisting of 50 shrimp with 1.66 ± 0.24 g as an initial weight. Shrimp fed with the control diet exhibited the lowest growth, whereas supplementation with TB improved growth performance. For ADCs (apparent digestibility coefficients), non-significant variances were detected in dry matter, crude lipid, and crude protein; however, ash was highly significant in the control (0.00) group. Moreover, gross energy was highly significant in the TB-supplemented group. Whole-body and dorsal muscle proximate composition showed no substantial differences (p > 0.05), except that ash was highly significant in the whole body for the control diet, while lipids were highly significant in dorsal muscles for the TB diet. The biochemical, antioxidant and immune parameters of the hepatopancreas and hemolymph showed non-significant changes in both groups, except total protein (TP) and triglycerides (TGs) were highly significant in the TB-supplemented group in both the hemolymph and hepatopancreas. Conversely, malondialdehyde (MDA) was highly significant in the control group in the hemolymph. Non-significant changes were detected among treatment groups for most of the textural properties of the shrimp; however, hardness was highly significant in the control group. The TB group showed a highly significantly larger intestinal villus height (p < 0.05). Compared with shrimp fed a control diet, those receiving the tributyrin-supplemented diet showed improved gut morphology and structure, as well as enhanced histological characteristics of the hepatopancreas. Overall, TB supplementation significantly enhanced the specific growth rate, weight gain rate, final body weight, and intestinal morphology. Although some indicators were not affected, these results indicate that TB has potential as a valuable dietary supplement in aquaculture.