Effects of partial substitution of dietary fish meal by fermented soybean meal on growth performance, body composition and activity of digestive enzymes of juvenile yellowfin sea bream (Acanthopagrus latus)

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing fish meal protein with fermented soybean meal (FSM) on the growth performance, feed utilization, body composition and digestive enzymes activity of yellowfin sea bream (Acanthopagrus latus) juvenile. Five isonitrogenic and isolipidic diets were prepared with levels of 0 (control), 100, 150, 250 and 300 g kg -1 FSM. Triplicate groups (20 fish per tank) of yellowfin sea bream with initial weight of 2.51±0.01 g were hand -fed to visual satiation at three meals per day for 56 days. The fish fed diets containing different levels of FSM had no significant differences regarding Final weight, Weight gain, SGR, FCR and Survival with control group. Whole body proximate compositions of fish were not affected by dietary FSM level. The activity of digestive enzymes in the intestine was not affected by dietary FSM level. This study showed that up to 30% fish meal in the diets of juvenile yellowfin (Acanthopagrus latus) could be replaced by fermented soybean meal.