The influence of dietary phospholipid level on the performances of juvenile amberjack,Seriola dumerili, fed non-fishmeal diets

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary phospholipid (PL) level on growth and feed intake of juvenile amberjack (Seriola dumerili) fed non-fishmeal (non-FM) diet containing alternative protein sources; soybean protein isolate, tuna muscle by-product powder and krill meal. Three non-FM diets were prepared to contain three levels (14, 37 and 54 g kg−1 dry diet) of PL (soybean lecithin acetone insoluble, 886 g kg−1) and growth performance was monitored in a 30-day growth trial by using 2.6 g of fish. The results indicated that final body weight, weight gain and feed intake significantly increased with increasing dietary PL level. At the highest dietary PL level (54 g kg−1 dry diet), the fish consumed 14.8% and 10.2% as much feed as those fish fed diets containing 14 g kg−1 dry diet and 37 g kg−1 dry diet PL, respectively. An increasing tendency with increasing dietary PL level on feed efficiency was observed. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that dietary PL supplementation could increase feed intake, and improve the growth of juvenile S. dumerili fed non-FM diets. Therefore, purified PL might be a good candidate to stimulate the growth of fish through enhancing the feed intake when they are fed diets containing alternative protein sources.