Authors
Xinyuan Li, Yangyang Liu, Shouqi Xie, Jianmin Zhang, Weihua Gao, Ming Jiang, Lixue Dong, Di Peng, Ke Cheng, Feng Huang, Juan Tian
Published in
Animal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui). Volume 26. Pages 591-604. Epub Aug 05, 2026.
Abstract
The relatively low edible muscle yield and inconsistent flesh texture of red swamp crayfish limit its commercial value and highlight the need for effective nutritional interventions. Although L-carnosine has shown beneficial effects on muscle growth and quality in vertebrates, its nutritional functions and underlying mechanisms in crustaceans remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary L-carnosine on growth performance and muscle quality in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). A total of 324 red swamp crayfish, with an initial body weight of 6.19 ± 0.03 g, were randomly divided into 6 groups of three replicates and 54 crayfish per group (18 crayfish per replicate). Six experimental diets containing graded levels of L-carnosine (3.35, 59.28, 106.84, 222.20, 452.93, and 821.16 mg/kg) were fed for 8 weeks. Regression analysis revealed dose-dependent responses in multiple parameters. Weight gain rate, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, protein deposition rate, muscle percentage, whole-body and muscle crude protein content, muscle textural properties (hardness and chewiness), hydroxyproline levels (alkaline-insoluble and total), myofiber density, small myofiber proportion (<50 μm), and total amino acid content exhibited quadratic trends (P < 0.05), with peak values observed in the 452.93 mg/kg group. Conversely, feed conversion ratio and large myofiber proportion (>70 μm) showed significant quadratic decreases (P < 0.05), reaching their lowest values at 452.93 mg/kg. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated that, compared with the 3.35 mg/kg L-carnosine group, the 452.93 mg/kg L-carnosine group significantly regulated genes involved in several key pathways: mTORC1 signaling (igf-1, pi3k, akt, tor, s6k1, and 4ebp1), eIF2B-eIF2 signaling (eif2a), ubiquitin-proteasome system (ub, psma2, psmc1, and murf1), autophagy-lysosomal system (atg16l1, atg5, beclin1, and atg12), TGFβ/Smads pathway (TGF-β1, smad6, smad3, smad4, and colla1), and myogenic regulators (mef2a, mef2b, and mstn) (P < 0.05). These molecular modulations were consistent with observed phenotypic improvements. Overall, the findings demonstrated that a dietary L-carnosine level of 458.06 to 500.00 mg/kg, as determined by quadratic regression analysis, significantly enhances growth performance, feed utilization, muscle hardness and chewiness, and nutritive value in red swamp crayfish.
PMID:
42602792
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Aug 2026.
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