The effects of field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) meal substitution on growth performance and feed utilization of hybrid red tilapia (Oreochromis spp.)

Abstract

The rising cost and uncertain availability of fish meal supply have forced fish feed manufacturers to find inexpensive, abundant and readily available alternative protein sources as substitutes. This study aimed to investigate the potential of using field cricket meal (CM) from Gryllus bimaculatus as a source of main protein in fish feed for hybrid red tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) The experimental diets were CM0, CM25, CM50, CM75 and CM100. Proximate analysis and amino acid analysis were carried out to analyze nutrient content in each treatment diet. Hybrid red tilapia juvenile were uniformly distributed at a stocking density of 25 juveniles per m3 in triplicate for each experimental tank. Fish were fed twice daily at the rate of 3% of total body weight for 98 days and weighted fortnightly. The result shows that cricket could be used to replace fish meal up to 50% without causing any significant effect on growth performance and feed utilization. Even though CM100 and CM75 shows significantly lower growth performance, the whole-body composition analysis of tilapia fed with CM100 had significantly increased percentage of protein and lipid compared to the CM0. This indicates that cricket meal has a great potential to be used as an alternative protein source to substitute fish meal in fish feed.