Growth performance, muscle and liver composition, blood traits, digestibility and gut bacteria of beluga (Huso huso) juvenile fed different levels of soybean meal and lactic acid

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of fishmeal (FM) replacement with 0, 350 or 700 g/kg soybean meal (SBM) in combination with the supplementation of lactic acid (LA; 0, 10 or 20 g/kg) in the diets of juvenile beluga sturgeon (Huso huso; 700 +/- 30g). Nine isonitrogenous (400 g/kg protein) and isoenergetic (18MJ/kg) diets were fed to beluga ad libitum, three times a day, for 60days. The results showed that replacing FM with SBM without LA significantly reduced fish growth; on the other hand, LA supplementation had positive effects on fish fed diets that FM was replaced by SBM (p<.05). Increasing SBM in the diet altered the fatty acid profiles of the fish, reducing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and the n-3/n-6 fatty acids. High amounts of SBM (700 g/kg) caused reductions in the haematocrit, glucose and cholesterol levels in the blood (p<.05). In addition, the digestibility of protein, fat, dry matter and phosphorus was reduced when replacing FM with SBM, however, adding LA to the diets increased fish performance (p<.05), and this improvement was sharper in 2% LA groups. The number of LA bacteria increased significantly with the dietary supplementation of LA (p<.05). Based on these results, replacing 350 g/kg of FM with SBM and adding 20 g/kg LA to their feed do not negatively affect the biological and physiological indices of beluga.