The project is under the direction of Yuniel Méndez Martínez, an academic from the Faculty of Livestock Sciences..

he aim of the research is to evaluate the use of probiotics such as bacterol and biostimulants such as chitosan on growth, survival, nutritional, biochemical, biochemical, enzymatic and haematological response in fish and crustaceans, which proposes the use of novel and environmentally friendly bioactives, such as chitosan and its derivatives, which is at the centre of current aquaculture research, in order to stimulate the metabolism of organisms with the aim of achieving higher production yields..

The objectives of this project are in line with the food sovereignty strategy of the Plan Toda una Vida 2017-2021 in Ecuador, which refers to the need to replace the use of chemicals that maintain their persistent residual in water and the environment.

Among the most significant results, it is expected to generate five engineering theses, which have the approval of the preliminary projects of each student by the Faculty of Livestock Sciences, and two scientific articles are also being prepared, which will be sent to high impact journals. The results will make it possible to determine and establish parameters for the commercial application of these products and indicators in response to the organisms treated.

These versatile bioproducts have properties capable of activating mechanisms in the organisms to make better use of the food, as well as improving the immune system, which contributes to greater survival, thus positively influencing the performance of aquatic crops, said Méndez.

This work is being carried out in the Aquaculture Laboratory at the experimental farm "La María", with the participation of students from the agricultural engineering course, Sonia Zambrano, Ronal Zamora, Jonathan Zambrano, Marcos Chóez and Ginger Pacheco; and from the Zootechnics course, Alan Vera and Karla Del Barco.

The student Vera said that thanks to this new idea will benefit the small or medium producer who has his fish farm, so far it is evident that the fish in three weeks have gained between 20, 10 and 15 grams, with this diet that is being implemented.