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The Application of Fungi and Their Secondary Metabolites in Aquaculture

Summary

Fungi can help solve several problems in fish farming. They can make plant-based fish feed more nutritious and easier to digest, boost fish immune systems and disease resistance without antibiotics, help fish feed float better in water, and clean up polluted water from fish farms. This makes aquaculture more sustainable and environmentally friendly while reducing costs for farmers.

Background

Aquaculture sustainability requires innovative approaches to address challenges including over-reliance on fishmeal, use of antibiotics for disease prevention, and water quality deterioration from nutrient-rich effluents. Fungi offer multifaceted applications in aquaculture through their ability to improve feed quality, enhance immunity, and provide sustainable alternatives to conventional practices.

Objective

This review explores the multifaceted roles of fungi in aquaculture, emphasizing their potential to enhance sustainability and productivity through environmentally friendly techniques. The study aims to organize significant findings on fungi application and create awareness of their beneficial uses in aquaculture.

Results

Fungi significantly reduce antinutritional factors and fiber fractions in plant-based feed ingredients, enhance nutrient availability and mineral utilization, improve feed buoyancy through fermentation, produce pigments for fish coloration, and effectively remediate aquaculture wastewater. Specific examples include Aspergillus niger reducing saponin by 49% and glucosinolates by 76.89%, and Rhizopus sp. fermentation achieving 83% feed buoyancy.

Conclusion

Fungi demonstrate considerable potential to transform aquaculture through sustainable applications in feed improvement, disease prevention, and environmental remediation. However, optimization of fermentation parameters (dosage and duration) for different feed ingredients is needed to enable practical adoption by aquaculture farmers.
  • Published in:Journal of Fungi (Basel),
  • Study Type:Literature Review,
  • Source: PMID: 39452663, DOI: 10.3390/jof10100711
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