Substituting dietary fishmeal with silkworm pupae meal in diets of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei): Effects on growth performance, nutrient utilisation, whole-body composition and digestive enzyme activities

The present study evaluated the dietary substitution effect of silkworm pupae meal (SWP) for fish meal (FM) on growth performance, feed utilisation, whole-body proximate composition, amino acid profile and digestive enzyme activities of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). The shrimp were fed with six isonitrogenous (36% crude protein), isolipidic (8% crude lipid) and isocaloric (16 MJ kg(-1)) experimental diets, containing 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% SWP, respectively, to replace dietary FM. A total of 360 shrimps (average initial weight of 3.86 +/- 0.20 g) were distributed into 18 tanks (20 shrimp per tank). The experimental diets were fed to triplicate groups of P. vannamei three times a day until satiation for 45 days. Significantly (p<0.05) higher growth performance and feed utilisation were found in shrimp fed diet with 60% incorporation level of SWP meal. No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in the survival rate, whole-body proximate composition and amino acid profile of shrimp fed SWP meal-incorporated diets. Additionally, higher specific activities of digestive enzymes such as amylase, trypsin and lipase were observed in shrimps fed diet with 60% incorporation level of SWP meal. The present study revealed that dietary fish meal protein up to 60% can be substituted with SWP without compromising growth performance, feed utilisation, whole-body proximate composition, amino acid profile and digestive enzyme activities of Pacific white shrimp fed on SWP meal based diets.