Effect of substituting fishmeal with corn protein concentrate on growth performance, nutrient utilization and skin coloration in red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fishmeal (FM) replacement with corn protein concentrate (CPC) on growth performance, nutrient utilization, gut morphology and skin coloration of red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp. Five isonitrogenous (350 g/kg crude protein) and isolipidic (10 g/kg lipid) diets were formulated to contain CPC that substituted 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% FM. Diets were fed to triplicate groups of tilapia (mean initial weight, 10.33 +/- 0.02 g) twice daily for 63 days. The results showed that replacing up to 50% FM in red hybrid tilapia diet with CPC did not show any significant adverse effects on growth, feed utilization, haematocrit counts, condition factor and gut morphology of tilapia (p > 0.05). However, replacing 75% or 100% FM with CPC had deleterious effects (p < 0.05). Carotenoids in CPC contributed to skin yellowness, which was significantly higher in the diet where 100% FM was replaced with CPC. Using regression analysis, the optimal substitution level of FM by CPC was estimated at 25% for percentage weight gain, 33% for FCR and 29% for protein efficiency ratio. CPC could be used as a single plant protein source to substitute up to 50% FM in red hybrid tilapia diets.