A preliminary feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of adult variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus) meal (VGM) as a replacement for ¢sh meal in the diets of Clarias gariepinus ¢ngerlings. Proximate analysis result showed that VGM had 61.50% crude protein, 6.87% crude lipid, 27.33 NFE and 9.35% chitin. Five isonitrogenous (30%) and isoenergetic (18.42 MJ kg À 1 ) diets were formulated in whichVGM progressively replaced ¢shmeal at ¢ve inclusion levels (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%). The best performance in terms of % weight gain was observed in the group of ¢sh fed ED 1 (25% inclusion level) and was not signi¢cantly di¡erent (P40.05) from the groups fed the control diet.Weight gain and speci¢c growth rate were signi¢cantly lower (Po0.05) in the group fed ED 4 (100%VGM). Feed conversion ratio and protein e⁄ciency ratio were numerically but not signi¢cantly di¡erent (P40.05) among the di¡erent groups. The results indicate that apparent protein and lipid digestibility were high at all levels, although there were decreases with an increase in the inclusion levels. Carcass lipid decreased with an increase in the inclusion level of VGM. The VGM can replace ¢sh meal up to 25% in the diets of C. gariepinus ¢ngerlings without any adverse e¡ect on growth and nutrient utilization.

Current research emphasis has been on the reduction of feed cost by incorporating processed sesame seed meal in the diet of tilapia. Raw sesame (Sesamum indicum) seed was soaked and subjected to either autoclaving or fermentation, after which their oil contents were mechanically extracted. Graded levels of autoclaved (71.2, 165.5 and 296.3 g/kg designated as diets 1, 2 and 3, respectively) and fermented (71.0, 164.3 and 292.2 g/kg designated as diets 4, 5 and 6, respectively) sesame seed meal were included into fishmeal based diets for Til-aqua natural male tilapia (NMT) fry (initial weight, 1.69 ± 0.02 g). A diet without sesame seed meal served as the control. Diets were approximately iso-nitrogenous (35% crude protein). Fish were fed 5 times their maintenance requirement, which was 3.2 × 5 × [fish weight (g)/1,000]0.8 daily for 56 days. Processing improved the nutritional profile of raw sesame seed meal in terms of its crude protein and antinutrient compositions. Growth performance of fish was similar (P > 0.05) in the control and dietary treatments. The group fed diet 3 exhibited significantly poorer feed conversion ratio (1.14), protein efficiency ratio (2.77) and economic conversion ratio (US$1.38/kg) relative to the group that received diet 5. Apparent digestibility coefficients for protein, lipid and energy in diet 3 were similar (P > 0.05) to those in diet 6 but significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of the control and other dietary groups. The sesame seed meals processed with different methods did not significantly affect crude protein, crude lipid and gross energy compositions in the fish carcass. The study demonstrated that 71.2 g/kg of autoclaved and 164.3 g/kg of fermented sesame seed meal could be incorporated in the diet of Til-aqua NMT with cost benefit.

A 75‐day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the nutritional implication of feeding diets containing graded levels of sundried cassava leaf meal (SCLM) to Labeo rohita fingerlings. Four isonitrogenous (300 g/kg crude protein) and isoenergetic (18 MJ/kg) diets were prepared by replacing de‐oiled rice bran (DORB) with 0 (diet 1), 130 (diet 2), 260 (diet 3) and 390 g/kg (diet 4) of SCLM. The diets were fed to the triplicate groups of L. rohita fingerlings (average weight, 2.03 ± 0.03 g) in a completely randomized experimental design. At the end of the trial, diet 3 had similar (p > 0.05) percentage weight gain (106.38 ± 4.41%), specific growth rate (1.29 ± 0.04%/day) and feed conversion ratio (2.38 ± 0.08) relative to the control group. Intestinal digestive enzyme activities, hepatic and muscle transaminases and proximate body composition of L. rohita fingerlings were not significantly (p > 0.05) influenced by the dietary treatment. Superoxide dismutase activity of the group reared on diets 3 and 4 was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of diet 1. Based on the second‐order polynomial regression analysis on the expression of IGF‐I and IGF‐BPI, it was concluded that as much as 166.5 g/kg DORB can be replaced by SCLM for optimal growth performance, in the diets of L. rohita fingerlings.

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