Effects of Chinese herbal compound in feed on growth, digestive enzymeand immune-related enzyme activities of Litopennaus vannamei

To investigate the effects of Chinese herbal compound on the growth, digestive enzyme activities and immune-related enzyme activities of Litopenaeus vannamei, five groups with 3 replicates per treatment of feed containing Chinese herbal feed additives (mainly Astragalus membranaceus and Baphicacanthus cusia) at 0, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively, were fed to L.vannamei initial weight (4.14±0.06) g for 56 d. Results reveal that the survival of L.vannamei in test groups is higher than that in the control, significantly higher in 0.2% group (P < 0.05). The relative weight gain in 0.2% and 0.8% groups is significantly higher than that in the control (P < 0.05). The digestive enzyme activities in the liver and intestine in the test groups are significantly higher than those in the control, significantly higher in 0.2% group (P < 0.05). The intestinal cathepsin and amylase in the 0.1% and 0.4% groups are higher than those in the control (P < 0.05).The AKP in 0.2% group is significantly higher than that in the other groups (P < 0.05). The SOD in the test groups is higher than that in the control. The POD decreases and then increases with increasing amount of Chinese herbs, especially that 0.4% group decreases significantly (P < 0.05). In conclusion, Chinese herbal compound in feed (optimum supplemental level: 0.2%) can improve the growth, digestive enzyme activities and immune-related enzyme activities of L.vannamei.