Acid and alkaline protease activities over the digestive tract of dentex fed on the different diets are depicted in Fig. 3.
In all treatments, the stomach showed higher acid protease activities, whereas
alkaline protease activity was the most significant elsewhere in the digestive tract.
If we take the pH value corresponding to the higher assayed protease activity as a reference for each digestive tract section,
Table 2 shows specific protease activity values in dentex feeding on each of the experimental diets.
Only in the posterior intestine, the protease activity showed significant influence produced by the dietary protein level.
In the anterior and posterior intestine, fish fed on the P43C28 and P38C28 diets showed values significantly higher than those fed on higher lipid content diets.
Protein, lipids or carbohydrate interaction significantly affected protease activity generated in all digestive tract sections assayed except the stomach.