Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in aquafeeds: impacts on fish muscle quality, molecular mechanisms, and crispness attributes.

Improving the texture and quality of fish muscle is a key objective in aquaculture, driven by the increasing demand for high-value, health-promoting seafood. This review highlights the potential of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) as a functional feed ingredient to enhance these muscle characteristics, particularly texture and crispness. By integrating insights from nutritional biochemistry, muscle texture studies, and molecular biology, we explored how diets enriched with faba beans influence muscle fiber structure, collagen dynamics, and the molecular expression related to muscle development, protein integrity, and stress responses. These mechanisms collectively contribute to firmer and crisper muscle texture. Additionally, the review addresses the nutritional and anti-nutritional properties of faba beans and their physiological interactions. While there are benefits, such as increased collagen deposition and improved textural traits, long-term feeding may lead to issues like growth retardation, lipid accumulation, intestinal inflammation, and reduced antioxidant capacity. Overall, this review highlights the faba bean's dual role as both a plant-based protein and a textural enhancer, providing innovative strategies for enhancing value in aquaculture production.