A review on alternative plant protein sources available for future sustainable aqua feed production

Abstract

Global crisis of fish meal for aqua feed production imposed the researchers to search an alternate non conventional source of protein. Till date, most of the research conducted on replacement of fishmeal, used plant based protein ingredients. Plant based feed ingredients are rich in protein, but contain high amount of anti-nutritional factors which curb their usage in fish diet. In order to get rid of the anti-nutritional factors, present in the plant based feed ingredients, generally fermentation, solvent extraction, heat treatment and protein isolation methods are used. Among the reviewed plant based protein sources, soybean meal has the highest protein content but ultimate dependence on soybean meal has its own disadvantages. Rubber seed meal (26% protein) could replace 50% of fish meal in carp diet whereas canola meal (37% protein) and Jatropha kernel meal (27.2% protein) have a good amino acid profile, makes them suitable for the incorporation in fish diet. Palm kernel meal (16.6% protein) could not replace a considerable amount of fish meal in the aqua feed due to its low protein content. However, peanut meal (48%) could significantly reduce the inclusion of fish meal in the fish diet with proper lysine and methionine supplementation. In this paper, research works published on fish meal replacement by using plant protein sources (soybean meal, rubber seed meal, canola meal, palm kernel meal, jatropha kernel meal, peanut meal) were reviewed.