Probiotics in Aquaculture Review: Current Status and Application in Tambaqui Cultivation (Colossoma macropomum)

The development of aquaculture guarantees the supply of animal protein of great nutritional value, contributing to food security. Currently one of the main problems faced is the occurrence of diseases, responsible for a worldwide economic loss, equivalent to US $ 9 billion per year. Aiming to increase resistance to diseases, increasing growth rates and food efficiency in intensive crops, some strategies have been developed, one of them is the use of probiotic bacteria. These, when in contact with the digestive tract of the host generates a series of benefits, among them, the modulation of the immune system, developing defense mechanisms and increasing resistance to stress. However, there are few documented reports on the efficiency of probiotics in native species, such as tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). This species shows some resistance to stress, through physiological mechanisms of adaptation, such as lip expansion when subjected to hypoxia situations, which added to the positive effects of using probiotics would represent an increase in its resistance. The purpose of this work is to review the literature on the use of probiotics in aquaculture in order to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the current knowledge about its use in aquaculture, with emphasis on the intensive cultivation of tambaqui.