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Title: SUBSTITUTION OF PLANT PROTEINS OR MEAT AND BONE MEAL FOR FISH MEAL IN DIETS ON GROWTH OF TILAPIA

Author
item Wu, Ying Victor
item TUDOR, KERRY - ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY
item BROWN, PAUL - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item ROSATI, RONALD - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Progressive Fish Culturist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Increased use of domestic fuel alcohol, derived from corn by fermentation, reduces our dependence on foreign petroleum. Moreover, it utilizes a renewable resource produced in great surplus by American farmers. Fermentation of corn to make alcohol also produces protein-rich coproducts such as corn gluten meal. As demands for fuel alcohol increase, a greater amount of corn gluten meal will be available and it is economically essential to find new markets for it. Corn gluten meal is potentially an inexpensive ingredient for fish feed. However, it is important to determine if fish will grow well on diet containing corn gluten meal. This feeding study showed that fish fed an all-plant-protein diet containing corn gluten meal performed equally well compared with a commercial fish feed containing fish meal. Thus, corn gluten meal can be used in fish feed, resulting in greater market demands for corn farmers and less expensive feed for fish producers.

Technical Abstract: Five experimental diets (36% protein) containing plant proteins and synthetic amino acids with and without fish meal/meat and bone meal were fed to tilapia with average initial weight of 13 g for 84 days in aquaria. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and protein efficiency ratio for tilapia fed the all plant-protein diet, the fish-meal diets with two levels of fat, the meat-and-bone-meal diets with two levels of fat, and the commercial 36% protein diet containing fish meal and meat and bone meal. Thus, it is not necessary to include fish meal or meat and bone meal in tilapia diet for good growth response compared with all plant-protein diet containing high-lysine corn, corn gluten meal, soy grits, and synthetic amino acids.