Aquaculture is a very fast-growing food-producing sector and due to intensive fish farming practices, infectious disease can cause heavy loss to farmers. Fish have considerably higher exposure to pathogens than non-aquatic vertebrates and the outbreak of diseases is not merely related to the causing agents (Martin and Król, 2017). In fact, outbreaks of fish diseases commonly occur when fish are stressed due to a variety of factors associated with the aquaculture environment and management procedures such as high stocking densities, transport or handling. For this reason, an optimal immune function of farmed fish is important to protect them from infections and, in this context, there is also an increasing consumer demand for environmentally-friendly and animal-friendly alternative to the extensive preventive use of antibiotics. Organic acids (OA) and botanicals (or phytogenic compounds) are widely used in terrestrial animals and they gained an increasing interest also in aquaculture. OA are well known for their antimicrobial power, as well as phytogenic compounds. Some botanicals have also been proven to exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, strengthening the immuneresponse of fish. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of AviPlus®Aqua (Vetagro SpA), a microencapsulated blend of OA (sorbic and citric acid) and nature-identical compounds (NIC, thymol and vanillin), on Atlantic salmon parr (Salmo salar L.) immune-response, during an inflammatory challenge.
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Discover More: Rossi et al. (2021). Aquaculture Europe 2021.