Evaluation of growth performance and body composition of Clarias gariepinus for graded level inclusion of soybean waste

Abstract

Soybean waste has always been treated as waste product from soybean milk or cheese production despite its high nutrient profile. It is in view of this, a feeding, trial was conducted to evaluate its (soybean waste or soymilk residue) utilization as replacement for fish meal in the diet of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings (1.09±0.23 g). Twenty fishes were randomly distributed in 15 tanks in replicate and fed varied inclusion levels of soybean waste at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) among the growth parameters. However, diet containing 25% soybean waste gave the best growth performance in terms of mean weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and food conversion ratio. The use of soybean waste meal has the potentials to improve the growth performance and body composition of fish.