The Effect of Different FPH Methods and Levels on the Performance, Feed Utilization and Body Composition of Nile Tilapia Fry

The purpose of the current study was to investigate how tuna waste protein hydrolysate, which was partially substituted for fish meal (FM), affected growth performance, feed utilization, and body composition. For three months, The Nile tilapia fry (0.7 gram) samples were fed on diets including enzymatic or microbial protein hydrolysate at two levels of substitution (15 and 30%). The enzymatic fish protein hydrolysate (E-FPH) was recovered from tuna waste by employing 2% fish pepsin enzyme (0.5%), while the microbial fish protein hydrolysate (M-FPH) was created by fermentation using lactic acid bacteria. Five diets were formulated by substituting FM with 0% (control diet), 15% (E-FPH 15), 30% (E-FPH 30), 15% (M-FPH 15), and 30% (M-FPH 30). The E-FPH 30 diet demonstrated significant differences (P< 0.05) from other treatments in some aspects of growth performance, proximate composition, feed utilization, and protein utilization parameters. This E-FPH 30 diet treatment recorded SGR of 3.767%/ day, survival rate of 98.380%, feed intake of 9.052g, FCR of 1.475, and PER of 2.141. However, it was not superior to the control diet. Additionally, the Nile tilapia fed on E-FPH 30 diet showed the highest muscle protein content (54.54%), and lowest ether extract (18.45%), followed by E-FPH diet 15, then M-FPH 30 diet and M-FPH 15 diets. The present study concluded that partially replacing fish meal with 15% and 30% of tuna waste-derived hydrolysates, especially E-FPH has promising implications in aqua-feeds as a sustainable source of proteins and amino acids.