Evaluation of Processed Soybean Meal in the Feeding of Clarias Gariepinus Fingerlings

Seven isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets were formulated to provide 40% crude protein. Diet I served as control diet formulated with 100% fishmeal, in diets II, III, IV, V, VI and VII, fish meal was replaced with processed soybean meal (roasted and boiled) at 30%, 35% and 40% levels and fish meal 70%, 65% and 60% levels respectively. The nutritional implication of processed soybean meal in the diets of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings were evaluated in this study. In phase one; an experiment was conducted to determine the proximate composition of processed soybean meal. The second phase of the experiment assessed the effect of processed soybean meal (boiled and roasted soybean meal) as replacement for fishmeal in practical diets of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. An eight weeks feeding trial was conducted in glass tanks to evaluate the effect of processed soybean meal in the feeding of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. From the results, the levels of nutrients were higher in the control as well as in Diet VII. Desired growth and nutrient utilization were obtained in fish fed the control diet, diets V, VI and VII which were the roasted soybean meals. From this result, it could be deduced that the effect of roasting on the soybean made the nutrients more available to the fingerlings, and more utilizable. The significant difference in growth performance between the fish fed the control diet and those with roasted soybean meal were favorably comparable at 30%, 35% and 40% levels of inclusion. The fingerlings responded positively to roasted soybean meal, which depicts the profound effect processing has on the meal. The boiled soybean meal had comparatively lower performance, when compared to the control diet and the roasted soybean meal.