COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF FEED INGREDIENTS BY PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND IN-VITRO DIGESTIBILITY FOR INCLUSION IN THE DIETS OF MACROBRACHIUM ROSENBERGII (DE MAN)

摘要

The in-vitro protein and carbohydrate digestibility assays using the hepatopancreas enzyme extract of Macrobrachium rosenbergii and the proximate composition analysis of the feed ingredients available in Kerala were carried out. The results of proximate composition analysis of different locally available feed ingredients revealed that trash fish meal, clam meal, squid meal, beef waste, chicken entrails, prawn meal and soy flour can be used as potential protein sources for their incorporation in the prawn feed on the basis of their protein content. Carbohydrate sources such as maida, wheat flour, tapioca flour, atta and broken rice are characterised by acceptable level of proximate composition and thus found suitable. Various protein sources showed significant variation (p<0.05) after hydrolysis with hepatopancreatic extracts of M. rosenbergii, the higher degree of hydrolysis related to casein standard was shown by soy flour (41.59%), followed by clam meal (25.56%), squid meal (24.48%) and groundnutoil cake (23.02%). Trash fish meal (17.21%), beef meal (14.28%), chicken entrails (13.45%) and prawn meal (11.06%) showed intermediary hydrolysis while shrimp head meal (8.76%) and coconut oil cake (2.86%) showed lower hydrolysis. On comparing the in-vitro-digestibility of carbohydrate sources, tapioca flour showed higher starch digestibility followed by broken rice, maida, atta and wheat flour.