Defatted soybean meal and Leucaena leaf meal as protein sources in diets for Penaeus monodon juveniles

Abstract

Penaeus monodon juveniles, mean weight 0.38 g, were fed 12 practical diets with 30, 20 or 16% Peruvian fish meal, 15 or 35% defatted soybean meal (DSM), 10% Leucaena leucocephala , leaf meal (LM), and 15% shrimp meal with and without vitamins and/or minerals. The diets contained 42-48% crude protein and 11-13% crude fat. The animals were stocked at 10 per fiberglass tank, and reared in 40 aerated seawater in a flowthrough system for 8 weeks. Growth and survival were not affected by the level of DSM but significantly decreased in prawn fed diets with LM. Feed conversion ratios of prawn were better for complete diets than those where vitamins only were added. Poor feed conversion ratios and specific growth rates were obtained when no vitamins and minerals or only minerals were added to the diets.