Alternative Protein Sources as a Replacement of Fish Meal in Tilapia Feeds

Abstract

A 32 day trial with Genetically Male Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was conducted to evaluate several commercially available ingredients polymeal, concentrated pea seed meal, and Marine Protein Substitution (MPS) as alternative protein sources instead of fish meal. Four experimental diets were formulated to contain the same levels of protein (40%) and lipid (10%) and each ingredient was the only protein source. The feeds were fed to triplicate groups of tilapia fingerlings of initially 5.7g. During the course of the trial, tilapias were fed manually to apparent satiation up to four times daily. The highest feed intake and growth performance of tilapia were obtained with tilapia fed the fish meal, followed by the group fed polymeal and MPS where both diets achieved the same results regarding feed intake and growth rates. However, the lowest feed intake and growth rate were found in tilapia fed the pea seed meal concentrate. The other observation from the present study is fish meal, polymeal and MPS meal had almost the same Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) that ranged between 1.22 and 1.25. Tilapia fed the pea seed meal on the other hand had the best FCR of 0.86 and the highest protein efficiency ratio of 38.5%. This suggests, pea seed meal as a protein source was used effectively by tilapia, however, feed consumption was low and thus the overall growth. Therefore, it can be concluded that fish meal could be replaced by polymeal or MPS meal without adverse effects, however, the low palatability of pea seed meal would require an additional attractant in the feed.

Keywords: Fish Meal, Polymeal, Pea Seed Meal, MPS Meal, Growth Performance, Feed Intake