Evaluation of Palm Decanter Cake as an Alternative Fish Feed

Abstract

The oil palm industry is the backbone of Malaysia’s economic and social development. Palm oil mills generated considerable amount of waste or by-products that may be reutilized for other purposes. Decanter cake is one of the solid wastes produced from palm oil mills. The freshwater fish farming industry is ever expanding due to depleting sea resources. Since the cost of conventional aqua feeds amount to large portion of farmed fish cost, alternative plant-based material such as palm decanter cake may provide a financially viable solution for the industry. This study involved the compositional analysis of palm decanter cake and in vitro protein digestibility using selected freshwater fish gut crude enzymes on palm decanter cake. Decanter cake contained approximately 76 % moisture. The crude lipid, crude protein, crude fiber, and ash contents based on dried weight were 9.7, 13.9, 17, and 8.7 % respectively. Two types of local fishes: the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and the catfish (Clarias batrachus) were used for the in vitro protein digestibility study on palm decanter cake based on pH drop method. The fresh decanter cake showed approximately 23.5 and 54.9 % relative protein digestibility (RPD) using fish gut crude enzymes of Nile tilapia and catfish, respectively. The RPD obtained indicates that the decanter cake can be part of the protein source for both types of freshwater fish studied.