Meat and bone meal as a potential source of phosphorus in plant-protein-based diets for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

A growth trial was conducted to evaluate meat and bone meal (MBM) as a source of Phosphorus (P) for Nile tilapia fed with plant-based diets on growth, and the efficiency of P utilization. Four isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were formulated. A plant-based diet, deficient in P (0.45 % diet, no P added), was used as the basal diet. Three levels of MBM were substituted for cornstarch in the base diet to produce experimental diets containing MBM_0.56, MBM_0.67, or MBM_0.78% P. These diets were fed (to apparent satiation) to Nile tilapia (initial body weight = 1.53 ± 0.01 g) for eight weeks. Weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR, feed:gain), whole-body P concentration (WBPC), protein retention (PR), and retained phosphorus (RP) increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05), with the increasing dietary P levels coming from MBM. Diets containing MBM_0.78 produced significantly greater WG, SGR, WBPC, PR, and RP compared to other experimental diets (P ≤ 0.05). The linear regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between the WG, WBPC, RP, and dietary P levels coming from MBM of Nile tilapia. These results indicate that MBM has an additional value as a source of P and can serve as a potential source of supplemental P for Nile tilapia fed plant-protein-based diets.