Comparative Evaluation of Fermented Fish Waste, Fermented Whole Herring, and Fish Meal

Abstract

Various biological assays were used to compare the nutritional qualities of fermented fish waste, fermented whole herring, and herring fish meal. Samples of each product were analyzed for proximate constituents and lipid classes as well as for their fatty-acid profile and amino-acid composition. Each ingredient was incorporated at the 5% or 10% level into balanced diets for a 28-day growth trial using broiler chicks.Fermented fish waste and fermented herring, with high contents of lipids, showed considerable lipolysis which must have occurred during the fermentation process. In comparison with herring fish meal, there was a large reduction in content of omega-3 fatty acids in the lipids of the fermented fish products. The protein content of the fermented fish products, expressed on a fat-free basis, was very high; the amino-acid profile was excellent. The three fish products sustained significantly different (P<.05), average feed:gain ratios in broiler chicks. The highest such ratio was associated with the chicks fed fermented herring.