Yeast cell wall: a green and healthy revolution in the aquaculture industry

Yeast cell wall: a green and healthy revolution in the aquaculture industry

      With the global aquaculture industry developing towards intensification and scale, the problems of antibiotic resistance, drug residues, and environmental pollution caused by antibiotic abuse are becoming increasingly prominent. In this context, yeast cell wall, as a natural and efficient functional additive, is becoming a core force in promoting the green transformation of aquaculture industry due to its unique bioactive components and multidimensional mechanisms of action. This article will systematically analyze the innovative role of yeast cell walls in aquaculture from the aspects of their structural characteristics, mechanism of action, application scenarios, and industry value.

1、 Structure and active ingredients of yeast cell wall

      The yeast cell wall accounts for 20% -30% of the dry weight of yeast, mainly composed of β - glucan (30%), oligosaccharides (30%), glycoproteins (20%), and a small amount of chitin, protein, etc., forming a unique "sandwich" structure:

      Outer layer mannan oligosaccharides: linked by alpha glycosidic bonds, have pathogen adsorption function;

      Intermediate protein layer: involved in cell recognition and signal transmission;

      Inner layer β - glucan: A three-dimensional helical structure formed by β -1,3 and β -1,6 glycosidic bonds, which is the core component of immune activation.

      This structure combines the comprehensive functions of immune regulation, toxin adsorption, and intestinal barrier repair, making it a natural multifunctional "biological shield".

2、 Mechanism of action: from immune regulation to ecological protection

      Immune enhancement: activating innate and adaptive immunity

      β - glucan activates the NF - κ B signaling pathway by binding to the Dectin-1 receptor on the surface of macrophages, promoting the release of cytokines such as IL-1 β and TNF - α, and enhancing lysozyme activity (such as a 35% increase in rainbow trout lysozyme activity).

      Sodium oligosaccharides competitively bind to the type I pili of pathogenic bacteria (such as Vibrio), preventing their colonization in the intestine, while promoting the proliferation of probiotics such as Bifidobacterium and maintaining microbial balance.

Gut Health: Dual Optimization of Structure and Function

      Yeast cell wall can increase the height of intestinal villi (28% increase in carp intestinal villi) and the thickness of mucus layer (19% increase in South American white shrimp), repairing intestinal damage caused by low temperature or stress.

      Regulate gut microbiota, reduce the abundance of harmful bacteria (such as Vibrio by 70%), and improve nutrient absorption efficiency.

Toxic adsorption: a natural detoxification barrier

      The porous structure of yeast cell walls can bind fungal toxins such as aflatoxin (adsorption rate of 60%) and zearalenone (79%) to form complexes that can be excreted from the body, significantly reducing toxin residues (such as a 90% reduction in aflatoxin residues in California bass).

Anti stress and antioxidant

      Under low temperature or transport stress, yeast cell walls activate the Nrf2 pathway to enhance antioxidant enzyme activity, reduce malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (with a 40% decrease in MDA levels in tilapia liver), and alleviate oxidative damage.

3、 Application scenario: Solution covering the entire breeding chain

      Aquaculture: Cracking the Dual Challenges of Disease and Environment

      Deep sea aquaculture: Yeast cell walls enhance the immune barrier and reduce the incidence of diseases such as vibriosis and iridovirus. For example, feeding salmon significantly enhances the ability of intestinal mucus to inhibit virus invasion.

      Prevention and control of overwintering syndrome: Adding 0.4% yeast cell wall can increase the overwintering survival rate of rainbow trout from 75% to 92%, reducing the risk of spring enteritis outbreaks.

Livestock and poultry farming: optimal alternative to antibiotics

      Adding yeast cell wall polysaccharides (YCWP) to broiler feed can accelerate intestinal development, promote goblet cell differentiation, and improve microbial communities, while antibiotics disrupt microbial balance.

      In ruminants, it has both ecological and economic value by stabilizing rumen pH, increasing feed conversion rate, and reducing methane emissions.

Special breeding and pet nutrition

      Application in pet food can enhance immunity and reduce digestive system diseases; It has also shown significant disease resistance and growth promotion effects in the breeding of special animals such as minks and foxes.

4、 Industry Value: The Core Driver of Green Transformation

ecological benefit

      Reduce the use of antibiotics (such as the "optimal solution" for alternative antibiotics after China's complete ban on antibiotics in 2020), reduce drug residues and water pollution, and align with the goal of "carbon neutrality".

economic benefits

      Experiments have shown that adding yeast cell walls can reduce the mortality rate of aquaculture by 50%, decrease the diarrhea rate of livestock and poultry cubs by 50%, and increase feed conversion rate by 15% -20%.

Policy and technology synergy

      In 2025, China's No. 1 central document clearly proposed to support deep and offshore aquaculture, and promote the industry to be "efficient, zero emission and intelligent" by combining intelligent feeding system, yeast cell wall and other biological agents.

5、 Future prospects

      With breakthroughs in directed enzymatic hydrolysis technology (increasing solubility from 20% to 50%) and gene editing technology, the application of yeast cell walls will expand to fields such as vaccine adjuvants and microbiome regulation. Its synergistic effect with probiotics and functional oligosaccharides may become a new paradigm for animal disease prevention and control.