Food restriction in Nile tilapia juveniles (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

Aim of study: To evaluate if dietary restriction influence muscle and intestinal morphology as well as the production performance of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Area of study: State University of Western Paraná (Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná – Unioeste), Toledo Campus, Brazil. Material and methods: The experimental design was completely randomized with four treatments and five replicates. The treatments were: 7:0 (fed daily; control); 6:1 (fed 6 consecutive days followed by 1 day of fasting); 5:2 (fed 5 consecutive days followed by 2 days of fasting); and 1:1 (fed 1 day followed by 1 day of fasting). A commercial ration with 33.70% crude protein and 4.60% lipid was used, and fish were fed four times daily until apparent satiety for 60 days. Main results: The following parameters were found to have differences among treatments (p0.05) among treatments. The cost of food and partial net revenue were higher in the 7:0 treatment compared to the experimental treatments. Research highlights: Dietary restriction for Nile tilapia in the juvenile phase negatively influences productive performance, centesimal composition, and muscle growth, which demonstrates that this practice is economically unfeasible for commercial production.

Keywords

• dietary regime
• feed cost evaluation
• skeletal muscle fiber
• zootechnical performance