Effect of Dietary Incorporation of Palm Kernel Cake on Growth, Digestibility and Amino Acid Profiles of Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon)

Five practical diets were prepared by incorporating palm kernel cake (PKC) in a standard shrimp diet at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4% replacement (w/w) of fish meal. The crude protein and essential amino acid index (EAAI) of test diets ranged between 40.11–38.36% and 0.92–0.88, respectively. Growth cum digestibility study was conducted on shrimp, (Penaeus monodon,) weighing 1.49 ± 0.05 g for 45 d in 500 L experimental tanks with three replications for each treatment. There were significant (P<0.05) reduction in daily growth coefficients and specific growth rates of shrimp fed with 4% PKC compared to other treatments. Survival (%) was reduced (P<0.05) at 3 and 4% PKC levels compared to control and lower levels of inclusion. The lysine and methionine digestibility (86.44 ±2.76 and 91.85± 1.78%, respectively) was higher (P<0.05) at 1% level PKC inclusion than at 4% level (68.10 ± 2.24 and 71.20 ± 0.38%, respectively). The free amino acid profiles of shrimp muscle fed with higher level of PKC at 4 h post feeding indicated lower (P<0.05) levels of arginine, lysine and methionine. It was concluded that PKC can be incorporated only up to 2% in the diet of black tiger shrimp (P. monodon).