Intervention of re-feeding on growth performance, fatty acid composition and oxidative stress in the muscle of red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) subjected to short-term starvation

The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is widely cultivated and consumed for its tender meat. The quality of P. clarkii is increasingly deteriorating due to a possible shortage of feed nutrition, posing a significant threat to its sustainability. To avoid the phenomenon mentioned above and enrich the culture technology of P. clarkii, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of re-feeding on alleviating oxidative damage caused by short-term starvation, as well as to investigate the relationship between oxidative stress and meat quality and its molecular regulation mechanism. A total of 600 crayfish weighing about 20.11 g were randomly divided into 4 groups: S0F0 (the control group), S0F3 (0 days of starvation and 3 days of re-feeding), S3F0 (3 days of starvation and 0 days of re-feeding) and S3F3 (3 days of starvation and 3 days of re-feeding). The results showed that starvation slowed down the growth of P. clarkii and significantly decreased the saturated fatty acids (SFA) contents in the muscle (P