1H NMR-based metabolomics investigation on the impacts of feeding in aquaculture of Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)
Creators: name: Baldissera, Giulia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: The present thesis work was carried out at the laboratories of “Chimica dei Sistemi Biologici” and “Bio-NMR” at the Department of “Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari” of “Università di Bologna”, placed in Cesena. The research team of this laboratory uses the principles of Metabolomics to detect the modifications that occurs in biological matrices, such as animal or vegetal food products, caused by technological processes or different production methods, using the molecular profile obtained NMR spectroscopy. In this type of studies, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is very advantageous compared to other techniques, as it allows the simultaneous characterization of a wide number of components present in the sample mixture as a whole, without the necessity of a separation step. Moreover, it is an untargeted method, so is not necessary to decide previously the molecules to focus on, as this technique enables to see everything present in the sample which is beyond the detection threshold and soluble in the solvent used for the extraction. The aim of this thesis work is to define if there are differences in the metabolic profile of three groups of Gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) fed with different diets. To do that it has been used 1H-NMR spectroscopy and a metabolomic approach. This work fits well with the actual trend of development of the aquaculture, that is seen as an interesting source to provide food and to improve food security, and, at the same time, with the tendency of attention towards sustainability, quality and consumer compliance of the products, which are nowadays the most important global trends about foods. Sustainability is fundamental animal products, not coming from intensive farming, are more and more demanded as to be produced in an eco-friendlier way. Quality is crucial even in the side related to the health; this aspect is very important in fish products, which are perceived as healthy foods thanks to the good content of some beneficial compounds, as discussed below. Consumer compliance is significant as the foods must be economically accessible, available on the local market and safe. In the recent years we witnessed a large development of aquaculture, and this leads to the need of searching strategies to improve the efficiency, productivity, but even sustainability of these systems. So, there has been even a grater increase of the research about all the aspects of aquaculture and the impact of different diets on the metabolism of fishes is one of that. 7 Obviously, the diet impacts the whole metabolism of fishes, and so it could affect efficiency of growth, survival rate, susceptibility to diseases, general state of health, resilience to a wide range of stressing conditions and so on; so is important to understand these aspects in order to improve the production for what concerns efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, the diet also impacts the body composition of fishes and consequently the nutritional value, but even the taste, odour, texture, and sensory parameters in general; so, the understanding of these aspects can lead to obtain products of improved quality, understood as quality related to health, but even to sensory properties. Nowadays an increasingly critical aspect is also sustainability, that regards all the aspect of the production and so even the production of feed for the aquaculture.