Dietary glutamine supplementation improves structure and function of intestine of juvenile Jian carp (Cyprinus carpio var. Jian)

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary glutamine supplementation on juvenile Jian carp growth performance, structure and function of intestine. Six experimental diets supplemented 0.0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0% L-glutamine were fed to three-replicate groups of fish (mean weight: 7.78 0.02g) for 80days. Glutamine supplementation improved weight gain, feed intake, gain:feed ratio, intestinal weight, fold height and digestive enzyme activities (P < 0.05). These results provide an experimental basis for use of glutamine in improving growth performance, intestinal structure and function of juvenile Jian carp. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.