Nutritional Values of Some Non-Conventional Animal Protein Feedstuffs Used as Fishmeal Supplement in Aquaculture Practices in Nigeria

The result of study showed that the clupeid fishmeal had the highest crude protein, 71.64% and unskinned-dried tadpole meal, 43.50% had the lowest value. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between the crude protein composition of these animal protein sources. Termite had the highest crude lipid, 30.50% and garden snail the lowest value, 7.85%. Termite meal recorded the highest gross energy, 2,457.61 kJ/100 g while the lowest 1,639.63 kJ/100 g was from unskinned-dried tadpole meal. The highest sodium and potassium, 2.32 g/100 g and 2.23 g/100 g respectively were from garden snail meal while termite meal had the lowest sodium, 0.20 g/100 g and unskinned-dried and skinned tadpole meal had the lowest potassium, 0.21 g/100 g. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between the highest and lowest minerals for the animals studied. The highest total essential amino acids, 51.33 g/16 N g were from fishmeal and the lowest 19.84 g/16 N g from termite meal.

Based on the results from this study, any of the understudied animal proteins have the tendency to supplement fishmeal in fish feed since they all have competitive nutrient values. Keywords : non-conventional animal, proteins, essential amino acids indices, proximate, fishmeal