Replacement of fish meal with a mixture of different plant protein
sources in juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.) diets
D.M.S.D.
El-Saidy, M.M.A. Gaber-2003
Aquaculture
Research, 34(13):
1119-1127
Abstract:
A
plant protein mixture (PPM) was tested to replace fish meal (FM) in diets
for juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Fish averaging (±SD)
3.7±0.14 g were divided into 15 groups. Three groups were fed each of
five isonitrogenous (33.6%) and isocaloric (4.7 kcal g
-1)
diets replacing 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the FM protein with similar
percentages of PPM (PPM0, PPM25, PPM50, PPM75 or PPM100 respectively). The
PPM consisted of 25% soybean meal, 25% cottonseed meal, 25% sunflower meal
and 25% linseed meal, and 0.5% of both methionine and lysine were added to
each diet except for the control. After 16 weeks of feeding, the fish fed
diets PPM75 and PPM100 exhibited growth performance not differing
significantly from the fish fed control diet. PPM substitution of up to 75%
of the FM protein did not result in differences in the apparent protein
digestibility compared with the control, whereas in the PPM100 group
digestibility was significantly lower than in the other groups, except for
fish fed the PPM75 diet. The incorporation of PPM in diets did not
significantly affect whole-body dry matter, protein, fat or energy compared
with the control. The cost-benefit analyses of the test diets indicated that
the PPM diets were economically superior to FM. The protein from PPM can
completely replace the FM protein in the diets for Nile tilapia, based on
the results of this study.
(PO Box 40, Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt. E-mail
of M.M.A. Gaber: gabermagdy@hotmail.com)