A method for identifying an amino acid-based feed stimulant for groupers and a composition thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a method (100) for identifying amino acid-based feed stimulants for groupers, comprising steps of preparing pure agar gel pellets containing agar gel powder, red food dye, and filtered seawater (102); preparing agar gel test pellets with test substances (104); conditioning groupers to accept agar gel training pellets containing commercial fish feed extract (106); subjecting groupers to behavioral experiments by exposing them to pure agar gel pellets and agar gel test pellets under controlled conditions (108); recording ingestion or rejection behavior using video monitoring (110); analyzing preference indices based on ingestion frequency and pellet capture attempts (112); and identifying amino acids with high preference indices (114). The invention further describes the preparation of pure agar gel pellets (200) and agar gel test pellets (300), including mixing, heating, molding, and cutting steps. Key additives include nucleotides such as inosine monophosphate, IMP, guanosine monophosphate, GMP, and nucleosides like inosine, INO in specific inclusion levels (0.001%–1%), and essential, EAA or non-essential amino acids, NEAA. Highly preferred amino acids, including L-alanine, are identified for their stimulatory effects. Additionally, the invention provides an amino acid-based feed stimulant composition comprising L-alanine, IMP, GMP, and INO in a 2:1:1:1 weight ratio, available as a premix or ready-mixed form with a host media. The most illustrative drawing is Figure 1.