Sunflower meal as an alternative protein source to replace soybean meal in the diet of GIFT strain of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to investigate the effect of partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) protein with sunflower meal (SFM) protein on growth performance, feed utilisation, survival and body composition of GIFT tilapia. Fish weighing between 1.03±0.01 and 1.19±0.02 g were stocked in in plastic troughs (50 l) at a stocking rate of 15 fishes per trough. Percent replacement of SBM by SFM on the basis of crude protein was 0% (control), 10% (SFM10), 20% (SFM20) and 30% (SFM30). Diets were fed to fish at the rate of 5% of the total fish biomass, daily for a period of 60 days. Fish fed with SFM 20% and SFM 30% sunflower meal had best performance in terms of weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, feed efficiency ratio and feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). Analysis of fish whole body composition revealed  that with increasing dietary SFM levels, whole body protein, ash and moisture contents showed significant difference among dietary treatments (p<0.05). Fish fed with SFM 30 diet showed the best growth performance compared to fish fed with the control diet.

Keywords: GIFT tilapia, Growth, Soybean meal, Sunflower meal, Whole body composition