Page 14 - Aquauclature Research and Studies (01)

AQUAUCLATURE
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Research and Studies 1 (1): 15-01, 2026 page of 193

ANFs (Pfeffer et al., 1995). Hydrothermally processed Prosopis juliflora seed
meal has been known to enhance the growth and food utilization of rohu
(Labeo rohita) fingerlings in comparison with unprocessed seed meal (Bhatt
et al., 2011). Dehulled pea meal has also been shown to have higher apparent
digestibility coefficients (ADCs) for energy, crude protein, and essential
amino acids in silver perch compared to whole pea meal (Allan, 2000). Re-
cently Couto et al. (2016) reported that growth performance and feed utilisa-
tion in meagre juveniles are significantly improved when fed autoclaved
CSGM. This study comparatively investigated the variations in the proximate
composition, ANFs, ADCs, and glucose loading of untreated and pretreated
CSGM used as a plant-based protein source in red tilapia diet.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Pre-treatment of CSGM and diet preparation
The carob seeds were milled using a laboratory mill (Panasonic MX-
800S, Japan) by moderate crushing. To separate the germ from the endo-
sperm, the crushed granules were sieved (2–2.5 mm). The germ was further
purified several times using different sieve meshes (Endecotts Ltd.) to ex-
clude the husks and gum residue from the final product. The final product
was separated into three portions for further processing.
−2
The first portion was autoclaved at 121°C at 1.05 kPa cm for 30 min
while the second portion was soaked in water (1:5, w/v) for 24 h. The third
portion was not pre-treated. Autoclaved and soaked germ granules were
drained and oven-dried at 55°C. Untreated and pre-treated germ granules
were separately ground using a 0.6 mm screen. On the basis of the nutrient
and amino acid composition (Table 7.1) of the feedstuffs, a reference diet was
prepared to meet all nutrient requirements of tilapia. Three test diets were
prepared to contain 70% reference diet and 30% untreated, soaked and auto-
claved CSGM Cho and Slinger (1979). The composition of reference and test
diets are shown in Table 7.2. Chromic oxide (Cr2O3) was included in all diets
to serve as an inert marker at a concentration of 1%.
All ingredients were well mixed and then extruded using a twin-screw ex-
truder (Sima, SJSZ) into 4 mm Ø pellets at the Bioprocessing Laboratory,
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). The