Nutritional evaluation of waste date fruit as partial substitute for soybean meal in practical diets of juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus L. |
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| Authors: | MS AZAZA F MENSI W KAMMOUN A ABDELOUAHEB B BRINI & M KRAÏEM |
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| Institution: | National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies, Salammbô, Tunisia |
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| Abstract: | The potential of waste date meal (WDM; low-quality date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L.) as a carbohydrate source in formulated diets for Nile tilapia was evaluated. Four isocaloric-practical diets (15.7 kJ g?1) were formulated incorporating WDM at 0, 100, 200 and 300 g kg?1 levels as partial substitutes for soybean meal (SBM). These were designated D0 284 g crude protein (CP) and 383 g carbohydrate (CHO) kg?1 diet], D1 (279 g CP and 446 g CHO kg?1 diet), D2 (207 g CP and 495 g CHO kg?1 diet) and D3 (175 g CP and 578 g CHO kg?1 diet). Each diet was fed to three replicate groups of 30 fish 20.20 ± 0.09 g (±SE)] for 75 days. No feed-related mortality was observed during the entire experimental period. Final body weight (FBW) and specific growth rate (SGR) in the different treatments were statistically not significantly different ( P > 0.05). Protein efficiency rate (PER) was lowest in diet D0 and increased with decrease of SBM content (D1–D3). A significant increase in whole body lipid content was recorded in fish fed diets D2 and D3. Results showed that WDM could be a substitute for SBM up to 300 g kg?1 in practical Nile tilapia diets without compromising growth. |
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| Keywords: | carbohydrate feed utilization Oreochromis niloticus protein sparing soybean meal waste date meal |
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