Harnessing Copra Meal as a Sustainable Protein Source: Partial Replacement of Soybean Meal in the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Diets

Mahruf, Bushra; Rahman, Md. Hamidur; Wijaya, Anugrah Ricky; Sarker, Famous; Sultana, Zakia; Eaty, Mst. Nusrat Jahan; Asadujjaman, Md.; Jahan, Fatema; Abdus Salam, Md.; Hasan, Mehedi; Shormi, Thacina Anower; Sajin, Rizwan Ahmed; Mukta, Sultana Parvin; Romjan, Al Shariar; Hossain, Md. Sazzad

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2025.426628.6638

Harnessing Copra Meal as a Sustainable Protein Source: Partial Replacement of Soybean Meal in the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Diets

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Aquaculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202

² Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Nigeri Malang (UM),State University of Malang, Jln Semarang No. 5 Malang, Indonesia

³ Independent Researcher, Sydney, Australia

⁴ Department of Fishery Biology and Genetics, Khulna Agricultural University, Khulna, Bangladesh

⁵ Department of aquaculture, Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chattogram

⁶ Department of Aquaculture, Khulna Agricultural University, Khulna, Bangladesh

⁷ Department of Aquaculture, Khulna Agricultural University, Khulna-9100

⁸ Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Bangladesh

⁹ Faculty of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Khulna Agricultural University, Khulna

¹⁰ Bangladesh Institute of Research and Training on Applied Nutrition (BIRTAN), Araihazar, Narayanganj

¹¹ Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fisheries, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

10.21608/ejabf.2025.426628.6638

Abstract

This research was carried out to evaluate the effect of copra meal (Coconut oilcake) as a partial replacement of soybean meal on the growth and survival rate of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings. Four treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4) were designed, each with three replicates. Copra meal was used to replace soybean meal at different inclusion levels: 0% in T1 (control), 25% replacement in T2 (7.5% copra meal in the diet), 30% replacement in T3 (9.0% copra meal in the diet), and 35% replacement in T4 (10.5% copra meal in the diet). Water quality parameters were within the acceptable range during the study period. Final weight (g), weight gain (g), percent weight gain (%), feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (%/day), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and daily growth co-efficient (DGC) varied from 14.11 to 18.92g, 12.47 to 17.28g, 760.36 to 1053.35%, 1.34 to 1.89, 4.3 to 4.89, 2.69 to 1.88 and 0.25 to 0.35, respectively. According to the results of the current study, 35% replacing of copra meal/kg (10.5% used in diet) in place of soybean meal resulted in the best growth performance and survival rate of tilapia.

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