Brewery residues as a source of organic carbon in Litopenaeus schmitti white shrimp farms with BFT systems.

The choice of the source of organic carbon utilized in the fertilization of the farming system in bioflocs is important as it influences the nutritional composition of the bioflocs and should consider factors such as costs, local availability, and biodegradability. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the effect of brewery residues, an industrial by-product, as a source of organic carbon in bioflocs technology (BFT) farming system, on the performance of juvenile Litopenaeus schmitti (initial weight 0.64 ± 0.36 g) and compare it with two other sources already used for this purpose: sugarcane molasses and cassava flour. After 60 days of study, the superior growth performance of L. schmitti grown in fertilized BFT brewery residues system was evidenced by significantly higher final weight ( p < 0.05) in prawns grown in this system (2.47 ± 0.19 g) compared to the cultivated systems with sugarcane molasses (2.07 ± 0.23 g) and cassava flour (2.38 ± 0.27 g). The nutritional composition of bioflocs varied significantly according to the carbon source ( p < 0.05), with the largest concentrations of lipids (2.39 %) found in molasses and ash (71.56 %) for the brewery residues. The bioflocs formed in the brewery residues system had the highest density of diatoms (27 × 10 cells ml) and nematodes (6 org mL). The results showed that the brewery residues is a good source of organic carbon for L. schmitti farming in BFT system, presenting advantages in improving the zootechnical performance of the species and the low cost compared to other sources studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]