DIGESTIBILITY OF DIFFERENTLY PROCESSED SOYBEAN EALS IN ATLANTIC COD (Gadus morhua)


O. Forde, S. Refstie, K-A. Rorvik, A. Skrede

Three extruded diets, added yttrium oxide, were prepared to investigate the effect of partial replacement of fishmeal (24% of dietary crude protein) with conventional soybean meal (SBM) or biotechnically processed soybean meal (BP-SBM) on nutrient digestibility in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). The diets were fed to duplicate groups of 534 g (1-year-old) and 1750 g (2-year-old) cod in seawater. After 48 and 92 days of feeding, faeces were stripped from the posterior part of the intestine. After 92 days of feeding digestibility of fat was significantly lower in cod fed the BP-SBM diet (75.1%) and the SBM diet (76.0%) than in cod fed the FM diet (87.9%). Crude protein digestibility was significantly lowered by inclusion of BP-SBM (81.9%) and SBM (83.7%) compared with the FM diet (86.3%), and it was significantly higher in large than in small cod. Starch digestibility was significantly higher in cod fed the SBM diet (90.1%) and BP-SBM diet (86.3%) than in cod fed the FM diet (79.8%).

(Aquaculture Protein Centre, Centre of Excellence, P.O. Box 5025, N-1432 As, Norway, e-mail: oddhild.forde@iha.nlh.no)

home