Quantifying the vitamin K requirement of juvenile marine shrimp (Penaeus monodon) with menadione

A feeding trial was conducted to estimate the optimum dietary vitamin K requirement for juvenile marine shrimp, Penaeus monodon. Purified diets with eight levels (0, 5, 10, 20, 50, 80, 160 and 320 mg/kg) of supplemental menadione were fed to P. monodon (mean weight 1.33 +/- 0.05 g) for 12 wk. Each diet was fed to three replicate groups of shrimp. Shrimp fed diets supplemented with vitamin K (5-320 mg/kg) had significantly (P < 0.05) higher weight gain and feed efficiency than those fed the unsupplemented control diet. Shrimp fed diets supplemented with > or = 50 mg/kg vitamin K had higher protein efficiency ratios than shrimp fed the control diet. Calcium deposition in shrimp generally increased as dietary vitamin K supplementation increased. Vitamin K-dependent carboxylase activity was highest in shrimp fed the control diet, followed by shrimp fed 5-160 mg menadione/kg diet, and lowest in those fed 320 mg menadione/kg diet. Vitamin K-dependent protein precursor concentrations were high in shrimp fed 0-10 mg menadione/kg diet, lower in those fed 20 mg/kg, and lowest in shrimp fed > or = 50 mg/kg diet. Protein efficiency ratio and vitamin K-dependent protein precursor concentration analyzed by broken-line regression indicated that the adequate dietary vitamin K concentration in growing P. monodon is 30-40 mg/kg diet.