Abstract
In this study, four groups of diet were prepared, with eel commercial diet without hydrolyzable tannin (HT) as the control group (H0), and the other three groups were fed with diet containing 0.05% (H1), 0.1% (H2), and 0.2% (H3) doses of HT to juvenile Mastacembelus armatus with an initial body weight of (0.40 ± 0.005) g. Juvenile fish in all groups were fed continuously for 60 days. Growth indices, hepatopancreatic antioxidant enzymes, biochemical indices (including total superoxide dismutase [T-SOD], catalase [CAT], malondialdehyde [MDA], total antioxidant capacity [T-AOC], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], alkaline phosphatase [AKP], and triglyceride [TG]), the content of muscle amino acids and fatty acids, stomach and intestine enzyme activities (pepsin, amylase, lipase), and genes expressions were evaluated. The results showed that 0.1% HT significantly improved the growth performance, hepatopancreatic antioxidant capacity, as well as muscle quality and lipase activity of juvenile M. armatus. In summary, the optimal addition level of HT in the diet of juvenile M. armatus is 0.1%, which helps to improve aquaculture efficiency and improve the muscle quality of M. armatus. However, the long-term effects of feeding HT on M. armatus and its physiological reaction mechanism need to be further explored.