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Email the author (Login required) Mannan oligosaccharides as prebiotics in crustacean aquaculture
Submited: 2016-05-19 09:48:07 | Published: 2017-05-18 16:10:40
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3856/vol45-issue2-fulltext-2
Abstract
Probiotics have the potential to increase the efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture production. The mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) are complex carbohydrates derived from the cell wall of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which act by blocking adherence of bacterial lectins to carbohydrates on the surface of intestinal cells; this action prevents colonization and infection processes carried out by bacterial pathogens. In this work, we review the current evidence about the use of MOS as prebiotics in shellfish aquaculture, enlightening the positive responses in most of the experiences, such as improvement in growth and survival, modulating the immune response and modifying the morphology of the digestive tract. The identification of strains that are promoted or excluded, and the characterization of the resulting modulating action in gut´s microbiota, remains open as one of the fields to be developed in conjunction with the extension of these results to the productive practice.
