The Israeli Journal of Aquaculture - Bamidgeh, IJA_64.2012.809, 5 pages

The IJA appears exclusively as a peer-reviewed on-line
open-access journal at http://www.siamb.org.il.
To read papers free of charge, please register online atregistration form.
Sale of IJA papers is strictly forbidden.
Sale of IJA papers is strictly forbidden.

Effects of Dietary Fish Oil Substitution with Palm Oil on
Growth, Survival, and Muscle Proximate Composition ofCirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822)
Soibam Khogen Singh1*, Mohd Ashraf Rather1, Sagar C. Mandal2,Pronob Das3, Nilesh Pawar4, Y. Jackie Singh1, Shabir Ahmad Dar1
1

Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Versova, Mumbai 400061, India
23

Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, Central AgriculturalUniversity, Agartala 799210, Tripura, India

Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, West Bengal,India
4

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Mumbai 400061, India(Received 28.2.12, Accepted 10.4.12)
Key words: palm oil, cod liver oil, Cirrhinus mrigala, proximate
compositionAbstract
A 60-day growth experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect ofreplacing dietary cod liver oil with palm oil on the growth, survival, andmuscle proximate composition of the Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala.
Five diets were fed to triplicate groups of 20 advanced C. mrigala fry(2.16±0.01 g): 100% cod liver+0% palm (control), 25% palm+75% codliver, 50% palm+50% cod liver, 75% palm+25% cod liver, and 100%palm+0% cod liver. At the end of the experiment, mean weight gain, average
daily growth, specific growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, feed conversion
ratio, and percentage survival were assessed. Growth performance andsurvival were not compromised when fish oil was substituted with palm oil up
to 25%. However, beyond this level, growth was significantly retarded(p<0.01). There were no significant (p>0.01) differences in feed efficiency ormuscle proximate composition. Results confirm the feasibility of substituting
up to 25% dietary fish oil by palm oil in diets for C. mrigala advanced fry
without negatively affecting growth or feed utilization efficiency.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: gengang@gmail.com

2Singh et al.

Introduction
Marine fish oil is used in fish feeds as a source of energy and essential fatty acids.
Conventional sources of dietary oils for aquafeeds derive from small pelagic fish, a finite
fishery resource. The major reason for replacing marine fish oil in aquafeeds is to reduce
feed costs, while still obtaining feeds with optimum energy and well-balanced essential
fatty acids.
Vegetable oils are promising candidates for fish oil replacement. Production ofvegetable oils is steadily increasing, they are widely available, and they have economicvalue. Some vegetable oils (e.g., soybean and rapeseed oils) are possible alternative lipid
sources for freshwater and marine fish because they are rich in polyunsaturated fatty
acids (PUFA) but devoid of n-3 highly saturated fatty acids (HUFA; Mourente et al.,2005). Substantial quantities of vegetable oils can be used to substitute fish oil in fish
diets without negatively affecting growth (Ng et al., 2003; Karayücel and Dernekbaşi,2010). A combination of L-carnitine and olive pomace oil improved feeding efficiency inAfrican catfish (Yilmaz et al., 2004).
Palm oil is a potential candidate due to its relatively low level of 18:2 n-6 andabundance of 16:0 and 18:1 n-9 (Ng et al., 2003). Research on the use of palm-oilbased products for fish shows it has many advantages over other vegetable or fish oils.
Together with the protective effects of potent natural antioxidants in palm oil, feed
rancidity can be substantially reduced when palm oil is used in aquafeeds (Ng, 2007).
Generally, 7-9% dietary lipid is optimum for grow-out stages of carps (Mukhopadhyayand Rout, 1996). All three Indian major carps grow well when their diet contains 1% n-3
and n-6 fatty acids (Murthy, 2002). Freshwater fish require a lower amount of n-3 fatty
acids than is present in marine fish oil and, therefore, palm oil can be used instead ofmarine oil in their diets. Unlike soybean and rapeseed oils that contain abundantsaturates (48%) and monoenes (42%), palm oil is unique in containing tocotrienols (7080% of the vitamin E content) which add value to the fish fillet. Considering theavailability and low price of palm oil in the tropics, its potential as an alternative dietary
lipid source for fish warrants further investigation. Hence, the present study evaluatedpalm oil as a partial substitute of cod liver oil in diets for advanced fry of Cirrhinus
mrigala.
Materials and Methods
The experiment was carried out for 60 days in 200-l FRP tanks installed at the wetlaboratory of the fish farm complex at the Fisheries College and Research Institute(FC&RI), Thoothukudi, India. Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) seed were procured from a
private hatchery at Kallidaikurichi, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India, and transported to therearing facility of the institute where they were fed commercial crumble pelleted feed
(Godrej India Private Limited, Andhra Pradesh, India).
Three hundred healthy advanced fry (2.16±0.01 g) were selected and randomly
distributed into 15 experimental tanks (20 fish x 5 treatments x 3 replicates) suppliedwith round-the-clock aeration. Five isonitrogenous diets (30% protein) were formulatedwith different inclusion levels of palm oil: 0% (control), 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%
(Table 1). The principal feed ingredients were procured from local markets in
Thoothukudi, dried in sunlight for two days, pulverized, then mixed thoroughly with asufficient quantity of water (10%) and put into a BTPL Lab Twin Screw Extruder (Modelno. BT/1) with a 2-mm die. The extruded noodles were collected, dried in the shade for 2h, labeled, and stored in air-tight plastic containers. The proximate compositions of thefeed ingredients and test diets were analyzed using standard procedures (AOAC, 1995).
Diets were hand fed to the fish twice daily (09:00 and 16:00) for 60 days. Uneaten
feed and fecal matter were siphoned out of the tanks daily using a plastic hose and feedintake was determined. Water was exchanged (50%) every 15 days and water quality
was assessed using standard methods (APHA, 1995). Mean temperature ranged 31.2131.53°C, pH 7.17-7.54, dissolved oxygen 6.23-6.72 ppm, alkalinity 89.04-91.37 ppm,
hardness 109.62-112.54 ppm, NH3-N 0.39-0.46 µg/l, and NO2-N 0.031-0.049 µg/l. Fishwere sampled at 60 days to determine growth performance and survival using standard

Effects of dietary palm oil on Cirrhinus mrigala

3Table 1. Ingredients and proximate composition of the experimental diets (g/100 g dry diet).
Diet (% palm oil/% cod liver oil)
25/75
50/50
75/25

0/100 (control)
Ingredient
Groundnut oil cake
Fishmeal
Rice bran
Palm oil
Cod liver oil
Vitamin-mineral mix*
Proximate composition
Moisture
Dry matter
Crude protein
Crude fat
Crude fiber
Ash100/061
20100816120102616120104416120
106216120
10801

06.38±0.02
93.62±0.12
29.98±0.08
08.35±0.07
04.90±0.03
14.94±0.0106.54±0.01
93.46±0.23
29.98±0.02
07.98±0.02
05.85±0.02
08.69±0.01

06.92±0.01
93.08±0.24
29.60±0.10
08.05±0.01
06.34±0.02
09.90±0.02

05.98±0.03
94.02±0.3130.10±0.07
07.95±0.03
06.37±0.01
13.00±0.01

06.09±0.02
93.91±0.1730.10±0.01
08.43±0.01
06.82±0.01
13.99±0.04*Mineral premix (%): KAl(SO4)2 0.159; CaCO3 18.101; MgSO4 5.216; CoCl2 0.07; KCl 16.553; ferric citrate(5H2O) 1.338; sodium selenite 0.004; MnSO4.H2O 0.07; KI 0.014; ZnSO4 0.192; NaH2PO4 13.605;
CuSO4.5H2O 0.075
Vitamin premix: thiamine hydrochloride 10 mg/kg; riboflavin 20 mg/kg; calcium pantothenate 40 mg/kg;
nicotinic acid 50 mg/kg; pyridoxine hydrochloride 10 mg/kg; folic acid 5 mg/kg; inositol 400 mg/kg; cholinechloride 2000 mg/kg; menadione 10 mg/kg; cholecalciferol 1500 IU; biotin 1 mg/kg; vitamin B12 0.02mg/kg; vitamin A 3000 IU; vitamin E 50 IU; vitamin C 200 mg/kg

formulas: mean weight gain (g) = mean final wt - mean initial wt; average daily growth(g/day) = (mean final wt - mean initial wt)/days of culture; specific growth rate (%/day)= 100(ln final wt - ln initial wt)/no. of days; feed conversion ratio = total dry feedintake/wet wt gain; feed conversion efficiency (%) = 100(wet wt gain/dry feed fed); andsurvival (%) = 100(initial no. fish - final no. fish).
Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 for Windows. One-way analysis ofvariance (ANOVA) was used to compare treatments. Significant differences between
means were measured by Duncan’s multiple range test. Differences were consideredsignificant at p<0.01 and results are presented as means±standard error.
Results
Mean weight gains and average daily growth were significantly lower in fish fed diets
Table 2. Growth performance and proximate composition of Cirrhinus mrigala fed palm oil
substituted experimental diets for 60 days period (means±SE, n = 3).
0/100 (control)
Mean initial wt (g)2.389±0.05
Mean final wt (g)6.015±0.20
Mean wt gain (g)3.626±0.15a
Avg daily growth (g/day)
0.060±0.002aSpecific growth rate
1.537±0.02a
Feed conversion efficiency
40.30±0.36a
Feed conversion ratio
1.579±0.084a
Survival
85.76±9.43a
Muscle proximate comostion (g/100 g)

Diet (% palm oil/% cod liver oil)
25/75
50/50
75/25
1.677± 0.11
2.426±0.53
2.257±0.195.214± 0.09
4.887±0.26
4.643±0.65
3.537±0.015a
2.461±0.73b
2.386±0.84b
0.019±0.000a
0.041±0.01b
0.039±0.014b
1.892±0.07a
1.156±0.07b
1.195±0.37b
abb
38.82±0.18
35.25±0.2136.29±0.30bab
1.426±0.006
3.213±0.863.114±0.78b
abb
83.33±6.67
81.11±11.70
91.66±1.66c

Moisture
77.38±0.15
77.18±0.1977.10±0.23
Dry matter
22.62±0.15
22.82±0.19
22.90±0.23
Protein17.39±0.28
17.10±0.2117.30±0.39
Lipid1.07±0.40
1.06±0.32
1.06±0.26
Ash1.76±0.18
1.90±0.24
1.91±0.28
Fiber
0.49±0.24
0.50±0.15
0.52±0.32
P value
0.083
0.067
0.018
Values in a column with different superscripts significantly differ (p<0.01).

77.00±0.10
23.00±0.10
17.71±0.18
0.99±0.29
1.94±0.15
0.53±0.290.102

100/02.065±0.444.313±0.80
2.248±0.36c
0.037±0.006b
1.233±0.04b
34.59±0.49b
2.810±0.46b
92.77±3.46c
77.26±0.24
22.74±0.24
17.56±0.20
1.06±0.38
1.95±0.29
0.56±0.14
0.721

4Singh et al.

containing 50% or more palm oil than in the control (Table 2). The mean weight gain had
a highly significant (p<0.01) negative correlation with the level of palm oil (r = -0.8703).
The feed efficiency and feed conversion ratios were best in the fish fed the 25% palm oildiet. Survival showed a positive correlation with the palm oil inclusion level (r = 0.457)
while muscle proximate compositions did not significantly differ between treatments.
Discussion
Weight gain was not significantly (p>0.05) lower in fish fed the diet with 25% palm oilthan in fish fed the control, similar to earlier studies on Labeo rohita (Athithan and Singh,2010), Catla catla (Singh et al., 2009), and Clarias batrachus (Ng et al., 2004). Dietaryfish oil can be substituted with 50% palm oil without compromising growth and survival
in Japanese seabass, Lateolabrax japonicas (Gao et al., 2012) and Malaysian mahseer,
Tor tambroides (Kamarudin et al., 2011). Mean weight gain had a highly significant(p<0.01) negative relationship with the inclusion level of palm oil. This contrasts withstudies in which there were no significant differences in fish weight gain (Torstensen etal., 2000; Rosenlund et al., 2001) but confirms findings in juvenile Nile tilapia,
Oreochromis niloticus, fed diets containing palm oil (Ochang et al., 2007) and Murray
cod, Macculochella peeli peeli, fed diets with graded levels of canola and linseed oil(Francis et al., 2007). High levels of palm oil can be detrimental. Palm oil exceeding 69%
compromised growth and feed utilization and caused intense liver lipid accumulation ingilthead bream, Sparus aurata (Fountoulaki et al., 2009).
The better survival at the higher inclusion level observed in our study agrees with
Gao et al. (2012). In Clarias gariepinus, dietary supplementation of palm oil offers
protection against muscle lipid peroxidation: antioxidants in the palm oil reduce the riskof oxidative stress and increase survival without affecting feed efficiency (Ng et al.,2004), similar to observations in Chinook salmon, Onchorhynchus tshawytscha, fed
dietary canola oil (Grant et al., 2008).
There were no significant alterations in muscle proximate composition in our study,
similar to earlier findings in tilapia, Oreochromis spp., fed a palm oil based diet
(Bahurmiz and Ng, 2007).
In conclusion, the present study indicates that dietary fish oil in Cirrhinus mrigala
diets can be replaced by palm oil up to 25% without adversely affecting growth, survival,
or muscle proximate composition. This study provides a cost-effective avenue forreplacing costly fish oil in dietary formulations for freshwater carp farming.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Vice Chancellor of Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal
Sciences University (TANUVAS) for the grant and facility provided during the study. Theauthors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content
and writing of the paper.
References
AOAC, 1995. Official Methods of Analysis, 13th ed. Association of Official AnalyticalChemists, Washington D.C.
APHA, 1995. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 19th ed.
American Public Health Association, New York. pp. 41-136.
Athithan S. and S.K. Singh, 2010. Evaluation of palm oil as a dietary energy ingredientand fish oil replacer in the diet of Labeo rohita (Hamilton). Aquaculture, 11(1):9-20.
Bahurmiz O.M. and W.K. Ng, 2007. Effects of dietary palm oil source on growth, tissue
fatty acid composition and nutrient digestibility of red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp.,raised from stocking to marketable size. Aquaculture, 262:382-392.
Francis D.S., Turchini G.M., Jones P.L. and S.S. De Silva, 2007. Growth performance, feed efficiency and fatty acid composition of juvenile Murray cod, Maccullochella
peeli peeli, fed graded levels of canola and linseed oil. Aquacult. Nutr., 13:335-350.
Fountoulaki E., Vasilaki A., Hurtado R., Grigorakis K. Karacostas I., Nengas I.,
Rigos G., Kotzamanis Y., Venou B. and M.N. Alexis, 2009. Fish oil substitution by

Effects of dietary palm oil on Cirrhinus mrigala

5vegetable oils in commercial diets for gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.): effects on
growth performance, flesh quality and fillet fatty acid profile: Recovery of fatty acidprofiles by a fish oil finishing diet under fluctuating water temperatures. Aquaculture,
289:317-326.
Gao J., Koshio S., Ishikawa M., Yokoyama S., Ren T., Komilus C.F. and Y. Han,
2012. Effects of dietary palm oil supplements with oxidized and non-oxidized fish oil on
growth performances and fatty acid compositions of juvenile Japanese sea
bass, Lateolabrax japonicus. Aquaculture, 324:97-103.
Grant A.A.M., Baker D, Higgs D.A., Brauner C.J., Richards J.G., Balfry S.K. andP.M. Schulte, 2008. Effects of dietary canola oil level on growth, fatty acid compositionand osmoregulatory ability of juvenile fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).
Aquaculture, 277:303-312.
Kamarudin M.S., Ramezani-Fard E., Saad C.R. and S.A. Harmin, 2011. Effects of
dietary fish oil replacement by various vegetable oils on growth performance, bodycomposition and fatty acid profile of juvenile Malaysian mahseer, Tor tambroides.
Aquacult. Nutr., DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2095.2011.00907.x
Karayücel I. and S. Dernekbaşi, 2010. Effect of dietary canola oil level on growth,
feed utilization, and body composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss L.). Isr. J.
Aquacult. - Bamidgeh, 62(3):155-162.
Mourente G., Good J.E. and J.G. Bell, 2005. Partial substitution of fish oil withrapeseed, linseed and olive oils in diets for European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.):Effects on flesh fatty acid composition, plasma prostaglandins E2 and F2α, immune functionand effectiveness of a fish oil finishing diet. Aquacult. Nutr., 11:25-40.
Mukhopadhyay P.K. and S. Rout, 1996. Effects of different dietary lipids on growth
and tissue fatty acid changes in fry of the carp Catla catla (Hamilton). Aquacult. Res.,
27:623-630.
Murthy H.S., 2002. Indian major carps. In: C.D. Webster, C.E. Lim (eds.). Nutrient
Requirements and Feeding of finfish for Aquaculture. CABI Publ., Wallingford, UK. 262271 pp.
Ng W.K., 2007. Replacing marine fish oil in aquafeeds with tropical palm oil products.
Aquacult. Asia Mag., 12(1):38-41.
Ng W.K., Lim P.K. and P.L. Boey, 2003. Dietary lipid and palm oil source affects
growth, fatty acid composition and muscle α-tocopherol concentration of African catfish,
Clarias gariepinus. Aquaculture, 215:229-243.
Ng W.K., Wang Y., Ketchimenin P. and K.H. Yuen, 2004. Replacement of dietary fish
oil with palm fatty acid distillate elevates tocopherol and tocotrienol concentrations andincreases oxidative stability in the muscle of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus.
Aquaculture, 233:423-437.
Ochang S.N., Fagbenro O.A. and O.T. Adebayo, 2007. Influence of dietary palm oilon growth response, carcass composition, haematology and organoleptic properties ofjuvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Pakistan J. Nutr., 6(5):424-429.
Rosenlund G., Obach A.M.G., Sandberg, Standal H. and K. Tveit, 2001. Effect ofalternative lipid sources on long-term growth performance and quality of Atlantic salmon(Salmo salar L.). Aquacult. Res., 32:323-328.
Singh S.K., Athithan S., Felix N. and K. Rathnakumar, 2009. Effect of partial
replacement of marine fish oil with palm oil on the growth performance of Catla catla(Hamilton). Aquaculture, 10(1):1-9.
Torstensen B.E., Lie O. and L. Froyland, 2000. Lipid metabolism and tissue
composition in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.): effects of capelin oil, palm oil and oleic
acid-enriched sunflower oil as dietary lipid sources. Lipids, 35:653-664.
Yilmaz E., Naz M. and I. Akyurt, 2004. Effect of dietary olive pomace oil and Lcarnitine on growth and chemical composition of African catfish, (Burchell, 1822). Isr. J.
Aquacult. - Bamidgeh, 56(1):14-21.