Unlocking Innovation: Powering Shrimp Performance with Plant Sterols

Shrimp farming has grown rapidly over the past three decades, helping meet rising global demand for seafood. But this growth has also increased pressure on marine resources traditionally used in aquaculture feeds, including fishmeal and fish oil. Key opportunities to promote farmer efficiencies and environmental stewardship include development of innovative ingredients that deliver higher nutritional value while addressing possible environmental and animal health challenges. For shrimp, in particular, one nutrient has posed a unique challenge: cholesterol.

Cholesterol plays a vital role in maintaining cell structure, aiding fat digestion and serving as the building block for key hormones that regulate development. Without enough cholesterol, shrimp can experience poor growth, molting problems and reduced reproductive performance.

Traditionally, shrimp diets have relied on marine-derived ingredients or purified cholesterol concentrates to meet this requirement. However, these ingredients often come with higher costs, sustainability concerns and supply chain constraints, which has prompted the industry to explore alternative options.

ADM's Plant Sterols AN offers an innovative, science-backed approach for tackling the cholesterol challenge in shrimp feeds. Plant sterols are naturally occurring compounds found in plants that are structurally similar to cholesterol. In a recent study, ADM researchers evaluated whether plant sterols could effectively replace animal-derived cholesterol in Pacific whiteleg shrimp diets. In a 62-day feeding study, shrimp were fed one of three diets: a basal diet with no added sterols, a diet supplemented with cholesterol, or a diet supplemented with Plant Sterols AN.

The results were clear and easy to interpret. Shrimp receiving either cholesterol or Plant Sterols AN showed significantly greater weight gain and improved feed utilization compared to shrimp fed the non-supplemented diet. Importantly, there were no significant differences in growth performance between the cholesterol and plant sterol groups. In addition, shrimp fed Plant Sterols AN had similar cholesterol levels in their hepatopancreas – a key metabolic organ – as those fed purified cholesterol. Collectively, the data indicates that plant sterols can effectively fulfill cholesterol-related functions in shrimp to support healthy development.

Recently presented at one of the largest aquaculture conferences and tradeshows globally¹,  results from the ADM study reinforce other scientific findings showing plant sterols offer an economical and sustainable alternative to cholesterol in shrimp diets. Because plant sterol concentrates are significantly cheaper than cholesterol concentrates, integrating them into low-cholesterol formulations reduces production costs by improving shrimp growth and feed efficiency. As the industry shifts toward plant-based ingredients to address cost and overfishing, plant sterols provide a critical safeguard against cholesterol deficiency in shrimp. Moreover, Plant Sterols are a side-stream from ADM's vitamin E production, helping us as a company reduce waste in our production.