Effect of dietary taurine and methionine supplementation on growth performance, body composition, taurine retention and lipid status of Persian sturgeon,Acipenser persicus(Borodin, 1897), fed with plant-based diet

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary taurine and methionine on Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) fed with plant-based diets. To this purpose, sturgeons were fed with either of methionine + taurine-supplemented (MT), without taurine supplementation (M) or without methionine supplementation (T) diets. Growth performance, body composition, tissue amino acids and serum glucose and lipids were studied at the end of the experiment. Results showed that the treatments T and MT had similar growth performance and feed efficiency, which were significantly higher than the treatment M. Dietary taurine and methionine significantly altered carcass and liver taurine and methionine contents. The highest serum glucose was observed in the treatment M and the lowest in treatment MT. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the treatments T and MT were similar and significantly higher than those of the treatment M. This study showed that Persian sturgeon needs taurine supplementation when fed with plant-based diets, but the supplemented level seems to be lower than those of the other species. Taurine has hypoglycaemic and lipidogenesis effects on Persian sturgeon. However, further studies are required to illustrate taurine and methionine metabolism in Persian sturgeon.