EVALUATION OF THE NUTRIENT COMPOSITION OF SOME UNCONVENTIONAL FEEDSTUFFS

A trial was carried out to evaluate
the nutrient composition of some
unconventional feedstuffs to
ascertain their suitability for
incorporation into fish feed.
Pawpaw seed, mudskipper meal, water melon seed, almond kernel
and groundnut husk were
processed and analyzed for their
proximate and mineral
composition using international y
est ablished procedure. The results obtained showed that the
experimental feed stuffs had
percentage crude protein that
ranged from 7.38% to 55.85%.
The highest level (55.85%) was
found in mudskipper meal while the lowest (7.38%) was found in
groundnut husk. The
experimental feed stuffs had
appreciable levels of calcium,
potassium and phosphorus
ranging from 0.29% to 1.87%, 0.17 to 1.26 and 0.06 to 0.97
respectively. Almond kernel can
be used to replace soybean meal
in aqua feed. Also, mudskipper
meal can be used to replace fish
meal in order to produce a cheaper fish feed; but it was
recommended that feeding trials
should be conducted to ascertain
the inclusion level at which they
can be effectively incorporated.
The potentials of some of these feedstuffs in fish feed formulation
seem high. KEYWORDS: Unconventional
feedstuffs, proximate
composition, mineral
composition, fish feed, nutrient
composition. By kingsway research 2011.

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