Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal

Effect of protein reduction with indispensable amino acid supplementation at different levels in practical diets of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fish.

Sara Youssef, Department of Nutrition and Nutritional Deficiency Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, 35516 Egypt.Follow
Shimaa Salem, Department of Nutrition and Nutritional Deficiency Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, 35516 Egypt.Follow
Rania Mahmoud, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, 35516 Mansoura, EgyptFollow
Tarek Ibrahim, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine , Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, EgyptFollow

Corresponding Author

Youssef, Sara

Document Type

Original Article

Subject Areas

Nutrition

Keywords

Nile tilapia, Dietary protein, commercial amino acid, Growth performance, Serum metabolites

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the effect of reducing dietary protein levels in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with dietary supplementation of commercially-available synthetic amino acids at different levels on growth performance, whole-body composition, morphometric indices, and serum metabolites.Design: Randomized controlled experimental study.Animals: One hundred eighty male Nile tilapia fingerlings.Procedures: One hundred eighty male Nile tilapia fingerlings were equally distributed in twelve glass aquaria (15 fish per aquarium) and fed the formulated diets at 4-5% of the body weight. Every two weeks, tilapia were weighed and the amount of feed intake was adjusted according to the increase in the tilapia weight. Results: By reducing dietary protein levels to 26%, final body weight (FBW), weight gain (WG), weight gain percent (WG %), specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), and feed intake (FI) were significantly reduced, while feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly increased. Indispensable amino acid (IAA) supplementation at 120% of the NRC requirements to low protein diets (26 and 28%) resulted in a significant improvement in all growth performance parameters. The reduction of dietary protein to 26% resulted in a significant increase in triglycerides (TG), cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), urea, and creatinine concentrations. Serum IgG, IgM, and reduced glutathione (GSH) showed a significant improvement with IAA supplementation at 120% of the NRC requirements.Conclusion and clinical relevance: Dietary protein level could be lowered to 26% with supplementation of IAA at 120 % of the NRC recommendation to maintain comparable growth performance of Nile tilapia.

How to Cite This Article

Youssef, Sara; Salem, Shimaa; Mahmoud, Rania; and Ibrahim, Tarek (2022) "Effect of protein reduction with indispensable amino acid supplementation at different levels in practical diets of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fish.," Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal: Vol. 23: Iss. 4, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21608/mvmj.2023.164547.1122