Growth and Diet Utilization in Pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus Using Soybean Replacement of Casein-Gelatin as Protein Source

1
Growth and Diet Utilization in Pacu Piaractus
mesopotamicus Using Soybean Replacement of
Casein-Gelatin as Protein Source

• Maria Esther Palacios1,3, Konrad Dabrowski,1 and
  C.C. Kohler 2
• 1 The Ohio State University, School of Natural
  Resources, Columbus, Ohio, USA
• 2Southern Illinois University, Carbondale,
  Illinois, USA
• 3Universidad Nacional de San Marcos, Lima, Peru

2
Fish is an Important Protein Source in the
Peruvian Amazon
Fish market in Iquitos, Peru
3
Utilization of Plant Proteins by Pacu
Maca (Lepidium meyenii)
Camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia)
Aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa)
4
Growth Rate of Juvenile Pacu Fed Experimental
Diets Supplemented (15) With Different Plant
Protein Sources
Control semipurified diet Casein (40), gelatin
(8), wheat meal 15-based
5
Body Weights and Food Conversion in Rainbow Trout
and Pacu Juveniles After 4 Weeks of Feeding
Histological Examination of digestive tract
(intestine, liver, pancreas) (Ostaszewska et al.
2003)
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Objectives

• To develop a semipurified, casein-gelatin based
  diet that can be used in nutrient requirement
  study with Amazonian fish.
• To examine the effects of practical diets
  containing soybean meal (SBM) and soy protein
  concentrate (SPC) on growth and feed utilization
  in pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus.

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Composition of Experimental Diets
Cod liver oil 11 lecithin 3vitamin mix 4
mineral mix 3CMC 0.5
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Experimental Conditions

• Fish juvenile pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus
• Weight 0.34 g 0.02 (35 fish/tank)
• Design 3 dietary treatments (3 rep.)
• Feeding 4 8 BW/day (3 times/day)
• Water temp. 26 0.27 oC
• Period 8 weeks

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Parameters Examined

• Growth rate (every 2 weeks)
• Feed utilization
• Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR)
• FCR food consumption (g) / body weight gain
  (g)
• Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER)
• PER Weight gain (g) / protein intake (g)
• Net Protein Utilization (NPU)
• NPU()Protein gain (g) / protein intake (g) x
  100
• Diet and whole body composition

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Pictures of Facility, Fish, and Analysis of Fish
Samples
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Results
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Proximate Composition of Experimental Diets (
Dry Matter)
Protein Lipid Ash

Control 63.39 11.2 4.69
SPC (50CP) 55.52
13.9 6.78 SBM (50CP) 57.48 16.6
7.61
Diets
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Growth Performance of Pacu After 8 Weeks of
Feeding
5
4
Initial weight
Final weight
3
Mean weight (g)
2
1
Initial weight
0
Control
SPC
SBM
Experimental diets
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Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) for Pacu in the
Course of the Study
1.6
1.4
Control
SPC
1.2
SBM
1.0
0.8
FCR
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
2
4
6
8
Time (week)
15
Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of Juvenile Pacu and
Rainbow Trout Fed Four Experimental Diets for 8
Weeks
Rainbow trout Pacu

FCR FCR Casein- gelatin (Control)
0.87 0.02b 0.76 0.01a SPC (50CP)
1.07 0.04a 0.73 0.01a SBM (50CP)
1.04 0.01a 0.61 0.03b
Dietary treatments

• FCR food consumption (g) / body weight gain (g)
• Means annotated with the same letter are not
  significantly different (P gt 0.05)

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Whole Body Proximate Composition (Dry Matter) of
Juvenile Pacu Fed Three Experimental Diets for 8
Weeks
Protein Lipid
Ash Control 67.28
19.3 14.27 SPC (50CP)
69.04 15.3 15.53 SBM (50CP)
66.34 15.0 15.97
Diets
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Utilization of a Semipurified, Casein-gelatin
Based Diet and Diets With 50 Protein Replaced by
Soybean Meal (SBM) or Soy Protein Concentrate
(SPC). Eight Week Feeding Experiments at 14-
18?C (Rainbow trout) or 26 ?C (Pacu, Piaractus
mesopotamicus)
Rainbow trout Pacu

PER NPU PER NPU Casein-
gelatin 1.95 0.05a 26.9 1.5a 2.23
0.03b 27.7 0.5c (Control) SPC (50CP)
1.77 0.07b 22.7 1.1b 2.59 0.04b 32.2
0.6b SBM (50CP) 1.76 0.02b 24.5
0.5b 3.07 0.27a 41.8 3.5a
Diets
PER Weight gain / protein intake
NPU () Protein gain / protein intake
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Protein Efficiency Ratios in Cultured Fishes
A comparison of protein efficiency ratios in
young fish when fed semipurified diets (C
casein, G gelatin, WG wheat gluten, of diet)
in five studies on different species. Rainbow
trout (Lee et al., 2004, our laboratories), coho
salmon (Luzzana et al., 1997), channel catfish
(Buentello and Gatlin 2000), pacu 0.3 g initial
weight (Palacios et al., 2004, diet contained
also 10 casein hydrolysate), and pacu 4.3 g
initial weight (Tesser et al., 2004). The highest
PER values in a particular study are shown.
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Conclusions

• Soybean meal protein replacement in casein
  gelatin based diets has significant positive
  effect on growth of pacu.
• Pacu better utilize high protein diets containing
  plant protein sources compared to other species,
  such as salmonids and channel catfish.

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Funding for this research was provided by the
Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support
Program

• The Aquaculture CRSP is funded in part by United
  States Agency for International
• Development (USAID) Grant No. LAG-G-00-96-90015-00
  and by participating institutions.