This work was carried out to evaluate levels of L-glutamine and L-glutamate in diets for Nile tilapia juveniles (0.60 ± 0.1 g). A complete randomized experimental design with four diets and three replicates and 90 fish per experimental unit was used. It was used a control diet with 29% of digestible protein and 2,940 kcal/kg of digestible energy supplemented with L-glutamine and L-glutamate at the proportion of 0, 1, 2 and 3% of diet, during 85 days. It was not observed effect of dietary L-glutamine and L-glutamate on feed intake, food conversion, protein efficiency rate, nitrogen retention efficiency, hepatic somatic index, chemical body composition, blood ammonia and urea. It was observed a linear increase on gain weight and a quadratic effet on villus height when levels of L-glutamine and L-glutamate increased. The addition of L-glutamine and L-glutamate increases the weight gain and intestinal villus height of Nile tilapia.
amino acid; fish; histology; intestinal mucous
