Dietary amino acid requirements of pebbly fish, Alestes baremoze (Joannis, 1835) based on whole body amino acid composition

• Published in: Aquaculture reports Vol. 14; p. 100197
• Main Authors: Kasozi, Nasser, Iwe, Gerald, Sadik, Kassim, Asizua, Denis, Namulawa, Victoria Tibenda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.07.2019; Elsevier
• Subjects: A/E ratios; Alestes baremoze; Amino acid composition; Dietary requirements; Alestes baremoze; Amino acid composition; Dietary requirements; A/E ratios
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aqrep.2019.100197
• ISSN: 2352-5134

•Alestes baremoze is a valuable food fish with a wide geographical distribution in Africa.•The culture of A. baremoze will greatly depend on the development of appropriate aquaculture feeding technologies.•The estimated amino acid requirement profiles of A. baremoze were found to be similar to other omnivorous fish species.•The present data could be used to develop amino acid test diets until dose-response data is available. Alestes baremoze is a valuable food fish with a wide geographical distribution in East, North and West Africa. Currently, the nutritional requirements of A. baremoze have not yet been determined, which hinders attempts towards developing appropriate feed formulations for its culture. This study was thus conducted to estimate essential amino acid (EAA) requirements of A. baremoze using the A/E ratio method, as a guide in formulating its diet. Fish samples used in the study were categorised into four classes according to their fork lengths (1–12 cm; 13–24 cm; 25–36 cm and 37–48 cm), with each class consisting of 10 fish. Results from the amino acid composition analysis revealed significant difference (P < 0.05) in the concentration of tryptophan, lysine, methionine, threonine, phenylalanine, isoleucine and valine amongst the different class sizes of A. baremoze. The A/E ratios of A. baremoze muscle tissue were in the same range with those obtained from other fish species, except for tryptophan. When expressed as a percentage of dietary protein, the EAA requirements of A. baremoze, were however not significantly different (P >  0.05) within the four classes. The EAA requirement profiles for A. baremoze were found to be similar to those observed in other omnivorous fish species. Considering the importance of A. baremoze as a potential species for freshwater aquaculture, the present data provides guidance to the development of test diets with appropriate amino acid inclusions until dose response treatments are carried out.