Performance and hepatic morphology of Nile tilapia juveniles fed methionine and choline supplemented diets

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of methionine and choline on the productive performance and on the liver morphology of Nile tilapias. During 87 days, 160 Supreme strain fish, with average
weight of 77±0.8 g, equally distributed in 16 tanks with 1,000 L each, were cultivated in a recirculating water system. The fish fed on pelleted diets three times a day until apparent satiation. Four diets with 33% crude protein and 3,000 kcal kg^‑1 digestible energy were used: control, without supplementation; supplemented with 3,000 mg kg^‑1 methionine; with 2,000 mg kg^‑1 choline; with 3,000 mg kg^‑1 methionine and 2,000 mg kg^‑1 choline. No effects of methionine or choline supplements were observed on daily weight gain, feed conversion, fillet yield, hepatosomatic index and visceral fat. Fish fed on diets supplemented with choline and methionine had lower fat content in the fillets and reduction of lipidic inclusion in the hepatic tissue. Choline and methionine supplementation does not affect productive performance of Nile tilapia juvenile; however, choline has an important action for hepatic lipid utilization, as evidenced by the reduction of lipidic inclusions.