PROTEIN-ENRICHED COPRA MEAL (PECM) AS A PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF SOYBEAN MEAL IN THE DIET OF WHITE LEG SHRIMP Penaeus vannamei AND MILKFISH Chanos chanos

Copra meal is a byproduct of the coconut oil industry that has a low feed value due to its low protein content, high fiber, gritty appearance and coarse texture. A breakthrough technology was developed, which involves solid state fermentation and utilizes food grade fungi to enhance the protein of carbohydrate rich biomass. This process has enriched copra meal protein from 12% to 45% protein, comparable to that of the soybean meal. The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of protein enriched copra meal as partial replacement of soybean in the diet of white leg shrimp and milkfish

A 60-day laboratory growth trial was conducted using thirty post lavae P. vannamei weighing 0.03±0.003 g, and 0.04 ±0.00g milkfish larvae    randomly stocked in a 50-L plastic aquaria equipped with aeration in a closed recirculating system. Animals were fed with respective formulated diets containing different levels of PECM; Diet 1 (control) 0%, Diet 2 25%,Diet 3 50%, Diet 4  75% soybean replacement. Thereafter, the best concentration was tested against a commercially available shrimp feeds and milkfish feedsin a large scale growth out system.

Results showed  that PECM inclusion did not affect the survival rate of shrimps at all dietary inclusion levels, lowest final abw was recorded in  Diet 4 (75% soybean replacement) for both species( Table 1 &2).  Results on a large scale outdoor trial using 50% soybean replacement against commercially available feed showed no significant difference on the final abw, feed utilization and production for both speies (Table 3 & 4). These  suggests the PECM could replace 50% of soybean meal thereby reducing the dependency in soybean meal and reduction in feed cost.