Use of full-fat winged bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus seed meal as a protein feedstuff in fish-meal free diets for African catfish Clarias gariepinus

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Mature winged bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus seeds were quick-cooked and the full-fat meal derived was used to completely replace menhaden fish meal as a dietary protein source for the African catfish Clarias gariepinus. Five dry practical diets (400 g crude protein kg−1 and 17.5 kJ gross energy g−1 dry diet) containing menhaden fish meal (diet 1) or winged bean meal with or without graded levels of supplemental L-methionine (diets 2, 3, 4 and 5; 0, 5, 10 and 15 g kg−1, respectively) were fed to catfish fingerlings (5.8 + 1.2 g) for 70 days. Weight gain, growth rate, feed conversion and protein utilization by catfish fed a winged bean meal diet without L-methionine supplementation (diet 2) was inferior (P > 0.05) to that in catfish fed the other diets, where performance differed nonsignificantly. Carcass protein of catfish was lower (P < 0.05) while liver protein was higher (P < 0.05) in catfish fed the winged bean meal diet without methionine supplementation. Results suggest that winged bean meal cannot replace fish meal as a protein source in catfish diets except with a minimum supplementation with 5 g L-methionine kg−1 diet.