The organoleptic, physical and chemical quality of mud crab fattening feed fermented with a microorganism mixture

Abstract

Feed for fattening mud crabs must not only be able to survive in water, but must also have high nutritional quality. High nutritional quality has an impact on increasing feed prices, so it is necessary to improve the quality of feed while maintaining a stable price. This study evaluated the organoleptic, physical and chemical quality of mud crab feed fermented by adding various doses of mixed microorganisms which cause fermentation to the raw feed materials. The microorganism mixture doses tested were: 0, 10, 20, and 30 mL 100 g-1 of raw feed materials. Based on organoleptic feed data (appearance, texture, aroma, and feed colour), physical data (water stability, including speed of breakdown and solids dispersion, hardness level, and sinking speed) and feed nutritional or chemical tests (protein, fat, nitrogen-free extract, crude fibre, ash, and water content, as well as the dry and organic matter digestibility percentages) it can be concluded that the microorganism mixture can be used effectively to ferment feed raw materials at a dose of 10 mL 100 g-1 of raw feed materials.