Nutritional potency of sardine fish meal for ruminants

Nutritional evaluation of Sardine fish (Sardinella longieps) meal was carried out to explore the possibility of utilization in livestock rations. The Sardine meal contained 56.3, 7.1, 24.4, 0.81 and 11.4% CP, EE, TA, CF and NFE respectively. It had 7.74% calcium, 5.02% phosphprus, 505.7 ppm iron, 166.4ppm zinc and was free from toxic elements like lead and cadmium. The higher proportion of B₂ (36.6%) and B₃ (30.3%) protein fractions indicated the potential of sardine meal for use as a rumen undegradable protein (RUP) source. Sardine meal is a rich a source of arginine (4.89%), threonine (3.33%) and methionine and having the maximum extended chemical score of 100 for arginine and methionine. The essential amino acid index of 69.39% in Sardine meal signifies the superior quality of the meal. Based on nutritional analysis it was inferred that Sardine meal could be used as potential RUP source for high yielding livestock.