The fertilization of synbiotic system in intensive culture of Penaeus vannamei

Authors: PIMENTEL, OTAVIO - Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte; WASIELESKY, WILSON - Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte; BRITO, OTAVIO - Federal Rural University Of Pernambuco; ROY, LUKE - Auburn University; Romano, Nicholas; KRUMMENAEUR, DARIANO - Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte

Submitted to: Reviews in Aquaculture
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/21/2025
Publication Date: 2/5/2025
Citation: Pimentel, O., Wasielesky, W., Brito, O.L., Roy, L.A., Romano, N.P., Krummenaeur, D. The fertilization of synbiotic system in intensive culture of Penaeus vannamei. Reviews in Aquaculture. 17(2):e13011. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.13011.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.13011

Interpretive Summary: Shrimp farming has increasingly shifted towards higher stocking densities and subsequently more food being added to the culture water. However, this increases the risk of loosing the entire crop because such intensive systems are prior to water quality deterioration and increased transmission of infectious diseases. Moreover, methods to control these issues, such as conducting massive water exchanges and use of harsh chemicals, are often not environmentally friendly or sustainable. Biofloc systems are one way to tackle these issues because it creates a limited or zero exchange system by recycling otherwise toxic organic compounds (ammonia and nitrie) into nutritious supplemental food for the shrimp. This has taken off in many parts of the world because it maintains water quality (and thus biosecurity), improves shrimp survival/growth, and reduces feed costs. This is accomplished by adding an organic carbon source, often in the form of molasses and other sugars, that provides energy to heterotrophic bacteria that create the bioflocs. A derivation of this system is called the “synbiotic” system in which microbially processed vegetable brans, referred here as the “fertilizer” are added as the carbon source. The benefits to this include the addition of prebiotics and probiotics at the same time as well as processed vegetable brans are inherently more nutritious than sugars to the shrimp. This review describes how this system works, and provides an overview of the benefits and drawbacks based on the latest research from peer-reviewed journals.

Technical Abstract: Over the years, the intensification of shrimp Penaeus vannamei production has brought challenges such as disease outbreaks and increased nutrient loading in effluents. Continued production needs to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly towards water and land use as well as provide greater biosecurity. Thus, microbial-based systems, such as the biofloc system, were pioneered to support industry growth and market demand for shrimp. Over time, a derivation of biofloc has emerged that is gaining ground in the shrimp industry, which is the synbiotic system. Synbiotic systems are microbially based but is characterized by fertilizing the culture water with vegetable bran (prebiotics) that were processed by fermentation and/or microbial respiration by probiotic microorganisms. The fertilization strategy creates conditions similar to the natural environment by supporting microbial loop development, controlling water quality, and suppressing harmful and pathogenic microorganisms. The synbiotic system is still new and without standard fertilization protocols, which has led to dissimilar results between laboratory research and commercial farms. Therefore, this review is focused on describing the different fertilization procedures used in the synbiotic system for P. vannamei intensive culture, the importance of each fertilizer component, as well as the different processing strategies. Furthermore, in this study we seek to provide perspectives and recommend future research topics to better understand the system along with their advantages and disadvantages.