Effect of feeding Spirulina platensis on growth and carcass composition of hybrid red tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus × O. niloticus).docVIP

Maejo Int. J. Sci. Technol. 2010, 4(02), 331-336 Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology ISSN 1905-7873 Available online at www.mijst.mju.ac.th Communication Effect of feeding Spirulina platensis on growth and carcass composition of hybrid red tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus × O. niloticus) Thepparath Ungsethaphand , Yuwadee Peerapornpisal , Niwoot Whangchai and Uraporn 1,3,* 2 3 Sardsud 2 1 2 3 Biotechnology Program, Graduate School, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources, Maejo University, Chiang Mai 50290, Thailand * Corresponding author, e-mail: thorn@mju.ac.th Received: 10 March 2010 / Accepted: 3 August 2010 / Published: 9 August 2010 Abstract: The present study was designed to evaluate the use of spirulina (Spirulina platensis) as a protein source for hybrid red tilapia. Spirulina was incorporated into four isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets at 0, 5, 10 and 20% of the fishmeal-based diet. The test diets were fed to the fish at 2% body weight twice a day for 120 days. The final weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and survival rate of fish were not affected by spirulina supplementation (p0.05). There was no significant difference (p0.05) in carcass proximate composition of the fish fed on spirulina diets as compared to those on control diet. This study demonstrates that up to 20% of spirulina can be substituted for fishmeal in a fishmeal-based diet for hybrid red tilapia without any adverse effect on fish growth. Keywords: spirulina, Spirulina platensis, hybrid red tilapia, fishmeal-based diet, carcass composition ____________________________________