Table 5.
Application of marine microalgal lipid as feed ingredient for livestock and poultry farming.
| Microalgae | Addition amount | Aquatic animal | Specific effects | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schizochytrium limacinum | 5 g/day | Lamb | (1) Compared with basal diet, microalgae contained much more PUFA a (62.5%), particularly DHA b (38.5%) and arachidonic acid (1.0%). (2) Feed efficiency and growth rate of lamb were improved by the supplementation of marine microalgae; (3) Blood cholesterol content tended to decrease (5.6%) in lambs fed marine microalgae; (4) Dietary supplement of microalgae improved total weight gain from 9.2 kg to 11.9 kg; (5) Dietary supplementation of marine microalgae did not change the concentrations of diamine oxidase, glutathione peroxidase, and free malondialdehyde. | (119) |
| Nannochloropsis oceanica | 123 g/kg of spray-dried biomass; 92 g/kg freeze-dried biomass; and 12 g/kg of microalgal oil | Lamb | (1) EPA contents in rumen, abomasum, and cecum of lamb fed freeze-dried marine microalgae were the highest; (2) PUFA contents in rumen and abomasum of lamb fed freeze-dried microalgae and microalgal oil were significantly higher than that of lamb fed spray-dried microalgae; (3) Freeze-dried marine microalgae is a natural rumen-protected source of EPA c to ruminants. | (117) |
| Nannochloropsis oceanica | 123 g/kg of spray-dried biomass; 92 g/kg freeze-dried biomass; and 12 g/kg of microalgal oil | Lamb | (1) Dietary supplementation of marine microalgae or microalgal oil improved daily fatty acid intake, particularly PUFA intake, of lamb; (2) In hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, brain fatty acid profile remained unchanged, with little alteration in docosapentaenoic acid enhancement; (3) Retinal tissues were particularly responsive to the dietary intervention, with a 4.5-fold enhancement of EPA in the lambs fed freeze-dried marine microalgae compared with the control lambs. | (121) |
| Nannochloropsis oculata | 750 g concentrate feed mixture with 10 g/kg microalgae per head each day | Barki sheep | (1) Dietary supplementation of Nannochloropsis oculata significantly up-regulated the expression pattern of immune and antioxidant markers in ewes post-lambing and their newly born lambs; (2) With the supplementation of microalgae, stillbirth of the newly born lambs was reduced from 30% to 10% and lamb birth weight was improved from 2.9 to 3.3 kg; (3) In ewes post-lambing, dietary intake of microalgae improved the contents of white blood cells and red blood cells and the activities of glutathione peroxidase and catalase, while reduced malondialdhyde content. | (120) |
| Schizochytrium sp. | 1%, 2%, and 3% | Lamb | (1) Inclusion of marine microalgae in diet reduced the ratios of n-6:n-3 in the fatty acid profiles of perirenal adipose tissue, skirt muscle, and subcutaneous adipose tissue of lambs; (2) Increase of marine microalgae supplementation in diet significantly improved the concentration of total PUFA in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of growing lambs; (3) Dietary intake of marine microalgae did not increase the concentration of PUFA in the skirt muscle of lambs; (4) Neither wool production nor quality was affected by dietary inclusion of marine microalgae in diet. | (153) |
| NA a | 8, 15, and 23 g/kg | Dairy sheep | (1) Supplementation of marine microalgae significantly improved PUFA content while reduced SFA d content in milk; (2) Addition of marine microalgae improved the concentrations of some bio-active components in milk. | (127) |
| Schizochytrium sp. | 100 and 200 g/bull/day | Qaidamford cattle | (1) Addition of microalgae in diet significantly increased the total antioxidant capacity in meat; (2) Microalgae supplementation increased the contents of PUFA, EPA, and DHA, while reduced the ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acid; (3) Microalgae supplementation in diet did not have significant effects on the color parameters, such as lightness, redness, and yellowness, of physicochemical meat quality; (4) Sensory characteristics, including initial juiciness, sustained juiciness, flavor intensity, initial tenderness, sustained tenderness, of the beef from cattle fed microalgae-supplemented diet were improved. | (125) |
| Schizochytrium limacinum | 0.144 kg/cow/day | Dairy cow | (1) From Week 4 to Week 6, milk yield (35.4–38.5 kg/cow/day) of dairy cow fed marine microalgae was higher than that of cow in control group; (2) Dietary supplementation of marine microalgae improved the concentrations of PUFA and MUFA e in cow milk to 6.1 and 36.4 g/100 g FA f, respectively; (3) Cheese made with the milk from cow fed microalgae-supplemented diet had higher concentrations of PUFA (5.5 g/100 g FA) and MUFA (35.3 g/100 g FA); (4) Dietary intake of marine microalgae reduced the ratio of n-6:n-3 in the fatty acid profile of milk and cheese. | (128) |
| NA | 200 g/day (24% DHA of total FA) | Dairy cow | (1) Cow fed diet with DHA-rich microalgae had higher body weight in the experimental period; (2) Mammary gene expression was regulated by the dietary intake of marine microalgae. | (1) |
| Schizochytrium sp. | 170 and 255 g/day | Dairy cow | (1) Dietary intake of marine microalgae resulted in lower concentrations of total PUFA, but increased DHA concentration in milk; (2) With the increase of addition amount of marine microalgae, the ratio of n-3:n-6 in the fatty acid profile of milk; (3) DHA transfer efficiency from feeding microalgae to milk fell in a range of 10.1%−11.3%; (4) Dietary supplementation of marine microalgae did not have significant treatment effect on most of the blood hematological and biochemical parameters, except for platelets and thrombocytosis. | (123) |
| NA | 50, 100, and 150 g/day | Dairy cow | (1) Milk yield was improved from 18.0 to 19.3 kg/day with the increase of daily supplementation of algae; (2) Substitution of fish oil with algae had no effect on milk FA composition. | (5) |
| Schizochytrium sp. | 1.8 kg/day microalgae concentration (corresponding to 40 g DHA/day) | Dairy cow | (1) Dietary supplementation of marine microalgae created a milk fat depression but could not improve the energy balance.; (2) As measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, feeding of DHA-rich microalgae significantly increased lipid peroxidation. | (124) |
| Dunaliella salina | 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 g/kg | Japanese quail | (1) Compared with the control diet, diet with 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg microalgae significantly improved live body weight and body weight gain; (2) FCR was significantly reduced by the dietary supplementation of 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg microalgae; (3) Dietary supplementation of microalgae reduced the contents of total cholesterol and triglycerides; (4) With the addition of microalgae in diet, high density lipoprotein content increased while low density lipoprotein decreased. | (113) |
| Schizochytrium sp. | 20 g/kg | Broiler | (1) Broiler fed diet with marine microalgae had the highest body weight and feed intake values; (2) Dietary supplementation of marine microalgae had no effect on FCR g; (3) Meat of broiler fed diet with marine microalgae had the highest content of DHA; (4) Compared with salmon oil and flaxseed oil, marine microalgae resulted in a lower content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the thigh meat in broiler chicken. | (112) |
| Dunaliella salina and Spirulina sp. | 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g/kg (1 Dunaliella salina:1 Spirulina) | Broiler | (1) The lipid profile of broiler was improved through a reduction of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein contents; (2) Malondialdehyde contents in the blood samples of broilers fed 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g/kg microalgae were lower than that in control group; (3) Dietary supplementation of microalgae reduced the contents of Escherichia coli and Salmonella, but increase the content of lactic acid bacteria in the cecal fresh content of broiler; (4) Activities of digestive enzymes, including amylase, lipase, and protease, in broilers fed 1.0 g/kg microalgae were significantly higher than the activities of digestive enzymes of broilers in the control group. | (2) |
| Schizochytrium limacinum | 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00% | Laying hen | (1) Microalgae supplementation in diet significantly improved the content of PUFA in eggs and reduced the ratio of n-6/n-3; (2) Microalgae did not have significant effects on average daily feed intake, FCR, egg weight, and shell thickness. | (122) |
| Schizochytrium sp. | 1.6% and 3.2% microalgae powder; 0.8% microalgae power plus 0.3% microalgae oil | Laying quail | (1) The 0.8% microalgae powder plus 0.3% microalgae oil group exhibited a reduction in daily egg-laying rate and egg mass, alongside an increased FCR; (2) Compared with the control group, supplementation of 3.2% microalgae powder significantly decreased the contents of total cholesterol and triacylglycerol in serum lipids of quails; (3) Dietary intake of microalgae powder and microalgae oil significantly improved the contents of PUFA, DHA, and n-3 PUFA in quail egg yolks. | (130) |
| Dunaliella salina and Spirulina platensis | 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g/kg | Laying Japanese quail | (1) Addition of microalgae had no significant effect on egg production, egg weight, and egg mass; (2) Microalgae supplementation in diet significantly improved body weight and feed intake of laying quails but had no significant effect on FCR; (3) In terms of fertility and hatchability, 1.0 g/kg is the optimal addition amount of microalgae in quail diet; (4) Dietary intake of microalgae reduced the contents of total cholesterol and triglycerides while did not affect IgG and IgM levels in laying quails. | (129) |
| Dunaliella salina | 0.50, 1.00, and 1.50 g/kg | Laying hen | (1) Dietary intake of microalgae (15 days) reduced FCR to 2.04-2.27 and improved egg production to 77.9-88.6%; (2) The contents of albumin and globulin in eggs were improved by microalgae-supplemented diet; (3) Microalgae supplementation in diet improved carotenoid content in egg yolk and increased DHA content in egg. | (116) |
| Dunaliella salina | 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00% | Laying hen | (1) In three experimental periods (Week 40–44, Week 44–48, and Week 48–52), egg weight was improved with the increase of microalgae supplementation while FCR was reduced; (2) Dietary intake of marine microalgae improved albumen weight, yolk weight, and yolk index of chicken eggs; (3) Supplementation of marine microalgae in chicken diet significantly increased total carotenoids content and intensity of red of egg yolk while slightly reduced luminosity of yolk; (4) Inclusion of marine microalgae in chicken diet provided a linear increase in intestinal villus height and ratio of crypt depth/villus height in the duodenum segments and ileum. | (115) |
a PUFA, Polyunsaturated fatty acid; b DHA, Docosahexaenoic acid; c EPA, Eicosapentaenoic acid; d SFA, Saturated fatty acid; e MUFA, Monounsaturated fatty acid; f FA, Fatty acid; g FCR, Feed conversion ratio.