South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

Improved Utilization of a Plant By-Products Mixture
by Supplementing Dietary Bamboo Charcoal
for Juvenile Amberjack Seriola dumerili

Kader Md. Abdul*, **, Bulbul Mahbuba, Hossain Md. Sakhawat,
Yokoyama Saichiro, Ishikawa Manabu and Koshio Shunsuke

Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University,
Shimoarata 4-50-20, Kagoshima, 890-0056 Japan*Present address: Faculty of Fisheries and Aquaindustry,
University Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, 21030 Malaysia.
**Corresponding author
E-mail: k3212335@kadai.jp, abdulkader_fc@yahoo.com

Abstract
A 3×2 factorial experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of a plant by-products
mixture (PBM; shochu distillery by-products: okara, 4:1) and bamboo charcoal (BC) on growth
performance, feed utilization, carcass composition and hematological parameters of juvenile
amberjack (Seriola dumerili) by feeding low fishmeal based diets. Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic
diets were prepared by adding three levels of PBM at 0, 5 and 10% and two levels of BC at 0 and
4%. Triplicate groups of juvenile amberjack (3.00 g, 20 fish per tank) were fed the respective test
diets twice daily to apparent satiation for 45 days. Results indicated that PBM had no significant(P>0.05) effect on growth performance and feed utilization of fish. Inclusion of BC significantly(P<0.05) improved the performance of fish. However, no interaction was found between PBM and
BC. Survival was not affected by PBM, BC or their interaction. Whole body proximate composition
was also significantly influenced by BC supplementation. Blood chemistry showed some differences
but the values were comparable among the dietary groups. The present study demonstrated that BC
supplementation is effective for improving the utilization of a plant by-product mixture in low fishmeal
and comparatively higher level of plant protein based diet for juvenile amberjack. It is assuming that
BC could absorb the noxious substances present in PBM which might improve the utilization of diets.
Based on the present experiment, it is concluded that 5-10% PBM along with 4% BC in 25% fishmeal
based diet is effective supplementation for better performances of juvenile amberjack.
Key words: amberjack Seriola dumerili, bamboo charcoal, okara, shochu distillery by-products――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Received: 18 April, 2013
Accepted: 16 July, 2013

2

South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

Introduction
Charcoal is the carbonaceous residue of wood, bamboo, cellulose, coconut shells or
various industrial wastes left after heating organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This
very fine and tasteless black powder is an adsorbent for many toxins, gases and drugs
without any specific action (Moe Thu et al. 2010). Charcoal has an extraordinarily large
surface area and pore volume that gives it a unique adsorption capacity (Baker et al. 1992).
Commercial food grade charcoal products range between 300 and 2000 m 2/g (Burdock1997). Nowadays, charcoal has been used in animal feed formulation as an additive because
it absorbs ammonia and nitrogen, and activates the intestinal function through eliminating
the poisons and impurities from the gastrointestinal tract of different animals (Mekbungwan
et al. 2004, Van et al. 2006, Moe Thu et al. 2010). Supplementation of charcoal significantly
increased feed intake, body weight and feed utilization in chicken (Kutlu et al. 2001).
Addition of 0.5-4.0% bamboo charcoal (BC) significantly improved growth, feed utilization
and ammonia nitrogen excretion of Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus and tiger
puffer, Takifugu rubripes (Moe Thu et al. 2009, 2010). BC is considered more economical
than activated charcoal and it possesses a higher surface area and adsorption capacity than
the standard wood charcoal (Van et al. 2006, Moe Thu et al. 2009). However, very limited
information is currently available on the effectiveness of the BC for use as a feed additive
for the commercial aquaculture industry.
Shochu is traditional Japanese liquor made from rice, sweet potato, barley, fruits
and other ingredients (Yamamoto et al. 2004, Sasaki et al. 2005). Sweet potato shochu ispopular in the southern region of Japan and shochu industries generate a huge amount of
shochu distillery by-products (SDBP). In 2005, about 480,000 tons of SDBP were produced
in Japan. Only a small part of these by-products is utilized for animal feed production. Mostof them are treated as waste products and then incinerated, dumped into the sea or depositedon land, causing serious environmental problems (Teramoto et al. 1994). However, SDBP
contains valuable nutrients such as protein, carbohydrate, vitamin and some other bioactive
compounds. Mahfudz et al. (1996) have found that SDBP contains unidentified growthpromoting factors for broiler chicken. SDBP have been tested as dietary feedstuff forchicken (Mahfudz et al. 1996), pig and cattle (Yanagita et al. 1999) and fish (Mokolensang
et al. 2003a, 2003b). As SDBP is a wet by-product, their utilization in formulated feed andlong time storage is difficult. Therefore, in the present study, SDBP was mixed with a byproduct from the tofu industry called “okara” at a ratio of 4:1 and co-dried to produce aplant by-products mixture (PBM). As PBM is the mixture of two plant sources, there ishigh possibility that it contains some anti-nutritional factors, toxins etc. Moreover, SDBP isa distillery product and it might contain some organic acids, antinutritional factors and an
alcoholic smell.
The amberjack, Seriola dumerili, is one of the commercially important species in Japanbecause of its delicacy and comparatively higher market value. It is distributed throughout
the tropical and subtropical seas except the Pacific Ocean (Laroche et al. 1984). Nowadays,
aquaculture of this species is intensified in the Mediterranean region and Japan (Takakuwa

Kader et al.: Improved Utilization of Plant By-Products Mixture for Juvenile Amberjack

3

et al. 2006). However, nutritional studies of this species are scarce. The present study was
conducted to evaluate the interactive effect of BC and PBM on growth performance, feed
utilization, whole body composition and hematological parameters of juvenile amberjack,
Seriola dumerili.

Materials and Methods
Experimental design and test diets
A 3×2 factorial design was used to study the effect of PBM and BC levels in a
low fishmeal based diets on growth performance, feed utilization, whole body carcass
composition and hematological parameters of juvenile amberjack. The formulation of theexperimental diets is shown in Table 1. Six isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were prepared
Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of the test diets.
Test diets
Ingredients(g kg-1 diet)
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
Fishmeal1
250
250
250
250
250
250
Soybean protein isolate2
150
150
150
150
150
150
Squid meal1
130
130
130
130
130
130
Krill meal1
60
50
30
60
50
30
PBM3
50
100
50
100
Pollack liver oil4
80
80
80
80
80
80
Soybean lecithin4
50
50
50
50
50
50
HUFA5
10
10
10
10
10
10
α-Starch
60
40
20
40
20
Vitamin mixture6
43
43
43
43
43
43
Mineral mixture7
40
40
40
40
40
40
Lactoferrin8
1
1
1
1
1
1
Seaweed powder9
16
16
16
16
16
16
BC10
40
40
40
Attractants11
10
10
10
10
10
10
Activated gluten
50
50
50
50
50
50
α-Cellulose
50
30
20
30
10
Proximate composition (g kg-1 diet)Dry matter
888
909
894
905
899
904
Crude protein
504
498
509
496
514
518
Total lipid
194
190
196
197
201
203
Ash
120
124
125
123
124
125
1
Nippon Suisan Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
2
Fuji Pro Company, Tokyo, Japan.
3
Plant by-products mixture.
4
Riken Vitamin, Tokyo, Japan.
5
Poweash A, Oriental Yeast Co, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
6
Vitamin mixture (g kg-1 diet): ß-carotene 0.13; Vitamin D3 0.01; Menadione NaHSO3.3H2O (K3) 0.06;
DL-α-Tochopherol Acetate (E) 0.51; Thiamine-Nitrate (B1) 0.08; Riboflavin (B2) 0.26; PyridoxineHCl (B6) 0.06; Cyanocobalamine (B12) 0.0001; d-Biotin 0.01; Inositol 5.13; Niacine (Nicotic acid)
1.03; Ca Panthothenate 0.36; Folic acid 0.02; Choline choloride 10.49; ρ-Aminobenzoic acid 0.51;
L-Ascorbyl-2-phosphate-Mg 3.0; Cellulose 2.57.
7
Mineral mixture (g kg -1 diet): MgSO 4 5.07; Na2HPO 4 3.23; K2HPO 4 8.87; Fe Citrate 1.10; Ca
Lactate12.09; Al (OH)3 0.01; ZnSO4 0.13; CuSO4 0.004; MnSO4 0.03; Ca (IO3)2 0.01; CoSO4 0.04.
8Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Ltd., Japan.
9
Marui Products Co. Ltd., Japan.
10Ishiyama Co. Ltd., Japan.
11
Attractants: alanin: betaine (1:1).

4South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013by adding three levels of PBM (0, 50 and 100 g kg-1) and two levels of dietary BC (0 and
40 g kg-1). The diets were designated as D1 (PBM 0, BC 0); D2 (PBM 5, BC 0); D3 (PBM
10, BC 0); D4 (PBM 0, BC 4); D5 (PBM 5, BC 4) and D6 (PBM 10, BC 4). PBM wasreceived from a local shochu production company of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. It was
prepared by mixing a sweet potato distillery by-product or SDBP and okara supplied by alocal industry in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan at 4:1 ratio. The resulting PBM contains 267,
48, 61 g kg-1 of crude protein, total lipid and ash respectively on dry matter basis. All otheringredients used in the present study were received commercially. Brown fishmeal, soyprotein isolate, squid meal and krill meal were used as protein sources. Krill meal was used
to keep the diets isonitrogenous. The lipid sources were Pollack liver oil, soybean lecithin
and HUFA.
All the dietary ingredients were first ground to a small particle size in a hammer milland passed through a 100 μm mesh sieve. The diets were prepared by thoroughly mixing all
the dry ingredients in a food mixer for 15 min. Pollack liver oil, soybean lecithin and HUFA
were premixed with a sonicator (CA-4488Z, Kaijo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), added to thedry ingredients and mixed for another 15 min. The required amount of water (35-40% of thedry ingredients) was then added to the premixed ingredients and mixed for another 15 min.
The pH of the diets was adjusted to 7.0 – 7.5 with 4N sodium hydroxide. The mixture wasthen passed through a meat grinder with an appropriate diameter (1.2 to 2.2 mm) to prepare
pellets which were then dried in a dry-air mechanical convection oven (DK 400, Yamato
Scientific, Tokyo, Japan) at 60 oC for 120 min. The moisture content of each diet waschecked with a moisture detector (MM30 Yamato Co., Japan). The test diets were stored at–28 oC in a refrigerator until use.

Experimental fish and feeding protocol
Juvenile amberjack were obtained from Kinki University, Wakayama Prefecture,
Japan and transferred to the Kamoike Marine Production Laboratory, Faculty of Fisheries,
Kagoshima University, Japan. The fish were maintained on a commercial formulated diet
(Higashimaru Foods, Kagoshima, Japan) for two weeks prior to the feeding trial. One
hundred liter polycarbonate circular tanks were used for the experiment. Six groups of fishwith an initial average weight of 3.04 ± 0.05 g (mean ± S.D.) were stocked in triplicate in
18 tanks at a density of 20 fish tank-1. The tanks were equipped with continuous aeration andflow through sea water system (1.5 l min-1). Natural illumination conditions were followed
during the feeding period. The fish were supplied the respective test diets to apparent
satiation. Daily ration size was divided into two equal feedings at 9.00 and 17.00 h. Uneaten
feed was collected and fecal matter was removed from the tank by siphoning after eachfeeding. The duration of the feeding trial was 45 days. Every 10 days, fish were counted andweighed in bulk to adjust the ration size. During each sampling, all the experimental tanks
were cleaned and the water was totally renewed. The water quality parameters (mean ± SD)
monitored during the experimental period were temperature 24.9 ± 1.9 oC, pH 8.0 ± 0.3,
salinity 33.5 ± 0.6 ppt and dissolved oxygen 6.1 ± 0.5 mg l-1 . These ranges are consideredwithin optimal values for juvenile amberjack.

Kader et al.: Improved Utilization of Plant By-Products Mixture for Juvenile Amberjack

5

Sample collection
During stocking a sample group of 15 fish was stored at −20 oC for initial wholebody analysis. At the end of the feeding trial, all fish were left fasted for 24 h prior to final
sampling. The total number, and individual body weight of fish in each tank was measured.
Five fish from each replicate tank were randomly collected and stored at −20 oC for final
whole body analysis. Blood was drawn by puncturing the caudal vein of individual fish.
Plasma samples were collected after spinning down the heparinized blood at 3000 × g for 15
min at 4 oC and kept at −80 °C until analysis.
Analytical procedure
The ingredients, diets and fish whole body were analyzed for moisture, crude protein,total lipid and ash, in triplicates, using standard AOAC methods (AOAC 1990). Moisture
was determined by drying the sample at 105 °C to a constant weight. The Kjeldahl method
was used to determine nitrogen levels and crude protein was calculated multiplying
by 6.25. Total lipid was analyzed using the Bligh and Dyer (1959) method and ash by
combustion at 550°C in a muffle furnace. Plasma chemical parameters were measured
spectrophotometrically with an automated analyzer (SPOTCHEM™ EZ model SP-4430,
Arkray, Inc. Kyoto, Japan).
Statistical analysis
Data were tested using two-way analysis of variance (Package Super ANOVA, Abacus
Concepts, Berkeley, CA). Percentage survival data were arcsin-square-root transformed
before statistical analysis. Comparison between two treatments (P < 0.05) was evaluatedby Duncan's new multiple range test (Package Super ANOVA, Abacus Concepts, Berkeley,CA).

Results
Growth performance
The effect of test diets on growth performance and survival of juvenile amberjack aresummarized in Table 2. Mean survival of fish in all the treatments ranged between 72.5%
and 82.5% and was not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by the dietary levels of PBM,
BC or the interaction between PBM and BC. At the end of the feeding trial, fish attained
a weight gain of 360% to 465%. Only BC was a significant factor on weight gain of fish.
Significantly higher weight gain was found in fish fed with diets supplementing 4% BC
regardless of dietary PBM levels. The highest weight gain was obtained from the fish fed
with diet containing 5% PBM and 4% BC levels. Specific growth rate (SGR, % day) of fish
followed the similar trend as with weight gain.
Feed utilization
Feed utilization parameters are given in Table 3. Feed intake (FI) was significantly
influenced by the inclusion of dietary BC. Although PBM was not a significant factor,

6South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

Table 2. Growth parameters in juvenile amberjack fed test diets for 45 days1.
Diets

Growth parameters
PBM level2 BC level3
Initial BW4 (g) Final BW (g) Weight gain (%)5 SGR (% day-1)6 Survival (%)7D100
3.0 ± 0.01
15.0 ± 0.0 391 ± 08.7 3.5 ± 0.04
82.5 ± 7.5D250
3.0 ± 0.02
13.9 ± 0.5 360 ± 19.4 3.4 ± 0.09
72.5 ± 2.5D3100
3.0 ± 0.02
14.7 ± 0.2 385 ± 05.0 3.5 ± 0.02
82.5 ± 7.5D404
3.0 ± 0.01
16.7 ± 0.4 451 ± 11.2 3.8 ± 0.05
72.5 ± 2.5D554
3.0 ± 0.02
17.1 ± 1.0 465 ± 29.6 3.9 ± 0.12
72.5 ± 7.5D6104
3.1 ± 0.07
17.3 ± 0.6 458 ± 07.7 3.8 ± 0.03
75.0 ± 0.0
Statistical analysis (P value)
NS
NS
NS
NS
PBM
NS8
BC
NS
0.00150.00090.0007
NS
PBM × BC
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
1
Values are means of triplicate groups ± S.E.M. (standard error of the mean) .
2
Plant by-products mixture.
3
Bamboo charcoal.
4
Body weight.
5
Weight gain (%) = (final body weight – initial body weight) / initial body weight × 100.
6Specific growth rate (%, day-1) = (ln final weight – ln initial weight) × duration / ln initial weight.
7
Survival (%) = (final no. of fish / initial no. of fish) × 100.
8
No significant difference.
Table 3. Feed utilization in juvenile amberjack fed test diets for 45 days1.
Diets
2

3

-1 4

Feed utilization
FE (%)5
57.5 ± 1.7
56.9 ± 2.0
62.9 ± 0.6
62.8 ± 3.2
67.1 ± 3.4
70.9 ± 0.1

PBM level
BC levelFI (g dry fish )
PER6
D1
0
0
20.4 ± 1.1
1.2 ± 0.04
D2
5
0
19.1 ± 0.3
1.1 ± 0.04
D3
10
018.6 ± 0.5
1.2 ± 0.02
D4
04
21.8 ± 0.6
1.3 ± 0.07
D5
54
21.0 ± 0.4
1.3 ± 0.07
D6
104
20.0 ± 0.8
1.4 ± 0.00
Statistical analysis (P value)
NS
NS
PBM
NS7
BC
0.02970.00480.0078
PBM × BCNSNS
NS
1Values are means of triplicate groups ± S.E.M.
2
Plant by-products mixture.
3
Bamboo charcoal.
4
Feed intake (g dry fish-1) = (dry diet given – dry remaining diet recovered) / no. of fish.
5
Feed efficiency (%) = {weight gain (g) / feed intake, dry (g)} × 100.
6
Protein efficiency ratio = weight gain (g) / protein intake, dry (g).
7
No significant difference.

there was a decreasing trend in FI of fish with the increasing level of PBM in diets.
Supplementation of BC with PBM significantly improved FI in all the respective groups.
Similar effects were also found in the cases of feed efficiency (FE) and protein efficiency
ratio (PER). However, no significant interaction was determined between PBM and BC
level on feed utilization parameters.

Whole body proximate composition
Table 4 represents the whole body proximate analysis of fish. There were no significant
effects of PBM or BC on whole body ash content. However, dietary BC was a significant

Kader et al.: Improved Utilization of Plant By-Products Mixture for Juvenile Amberjack

7

Table 4. Whole body proximate composition (% wet basis) in juvenile amberjack fed the test diets for 45 days1.
Diets
PBM level2

BC level3

Moisture
80.9
79.6 ± 0.7
79.5 ± 0.8
79.2 ± 0.4
78.8 ± 0.2
77.7 ± 0.4
78.3 ± 0.1

Initial4
D1
0
0
D2
5
0
D3
10
0
D4
0
4
D5
5
4
D6
10
4
Statistical analysis (P value)
PBM
NS5
BC
0.0279
PBM × BCNS
1
Values are means of triplicate groups ± S.E.M.
2
Plant by-products mixture.
3
Bamboo charcoal.
4
Data were not included in statistical analysis.
5
No significant difference.

Parameters
Crude protein Total lipid
13.1
1.3
13.7 ± 0.2
1.5 ± 0.3
14.0 ± 0.2
1.5 ± 0.2
14.6 ± 0.3
2.1 ± 0.2
14.9 ± 0.2
2.0 ± 0.1
15.1 ± 0.3
2.4 ± 0.2
15.5 ± 0.3
2.2 ± 0.1
NS
0.0018NSNS
0.0212NS

Ash
3.5
4.2 ± 0.2
4.1 ± 0.1
3.9 ± 0.1
3.8 ± 0.1
4.1 ± 0.1
3.8 ± 0.0
NS
NS
NS

Table 5. Blood parameters in juvenile amberjack fed the test diets for 45 days1.
Diets
PBM level2 BC level3
Hematocrit (%)
D1
0033.5 ± 2.5
D25
032.5 ± 0.5
D3
10029.5 ± 2.5
D40
440.0 ± 1.0
D554
32.0 ± 1.0
D6
104
32.5 ± 1.5
Statistical analysis (P value)PBM
0.0319BC
NS
PBM × BCNS
1
Values are means of triplicate groups ± S.E.M.
2
Plant by-products mixture.
3
Bamboo charcoal.
4
Total protein (g dl-1).
5
Total cholesterol (IU l-1).
6
Glucose (IU l-1).
7
No significant difference.

Blood parameters
T-pro4T-cho53.7 ± 0.1
245 ± 10
3.1 ± 0.0
235 ± 10
3.5 ± 0.3
229 ± 164.4 ± 0.1
297 ± 60
3.8 ± 0.3
264 ± 20
3.9 ± 0.2
267 ± 20

Glucose6
103 ± 2085 ± 7105 ± 4100 ± 1092 ± 6077 ± 3NS7
0.0110NS

0.04560.04780.0297NS
0.0010NS

factor on moisture, crude protein and total lipid contents. Comparatively low moistureand high lipid and protein contents were found in all the groups received 4% BC levelsupplemented diets.

Blood parameters
Blood parameters are presented in Table 5. PBM had significant effect on hematocrit
and plasma glucose content. Total protein (T-Pro), total cholesterol (T-Cho) and glucose
were significantly affected by BC. Moreover, significant interaction was only found inplasma glucose level of fish.

8South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

Discussion
The present study demonstrated that supplementation of BC with PBM is effective
to improve growth performance, feed utilization, whole body composition and blood
parameters of juvenile amberjack. The results are in harmony with previous reports by Moe
Thu et al. (2009, 2010) showing that supplementation of BC significantly improved theperformance of Japanese flounder and tiger puffer fish.
At the end of the feeding trial, survival of the juvenile amberjack was not significantly
affected (P > 0.05) by PBM, BC or their interaction. Inclusion of PBM had no significant
effect on growth performance, feed utilization, whole body carcass composition and mostof the hematological parameters of fish. Moe Thu et al. (2009) also found that inclusionof 10% SDBP had no negative effect on the normal growth rate of fish. However, higher
inclusion levels might have detrimental effect on the performance of fish as SDBP might
contain phenolic compounds since sweet potato storage root have high content of phenolic
compounds (Y oshimoto et al. 2004). Moreover, M okolensang et al. (2003a, 2003b)
reported that common carp, Cyprinus carpio L. shows better growth performance than thecontrol when fed 4.2% SDBP as dry basis. On the other hand, present experiment showedslightly lower (P > 0.05) growth performance in fish fed with diets supplementing 5 and
10% PBM (SDBP contains at 3.3 and 6.6% respectively on dry matter basis) compared tothe diet without PBM. Supplementation of BC with PBM significantly improved growth
performance and feed utilization of fish to the extent of being approximately equal to the fish
fed high fishmeal based diet (Takeuchi et al. 1992). Several studies reported that growth wassignificantly improved by the inclusion of dietary BC in goat (Van et al. 2006), tiger puffer(Moe Thu et al. 2009) and Japanese flounder (Moe Thu 2010); wood charcoal in chickens(Kutlu et al. 2001) and dietary charcoal with wood vinegar in piglets (Mekbungwan et al.
2004) and Japanese flounder (Yoo et al. 2005).
Improved growth of fish in BC supplemented groups might be attributed by theincreased feed intake in all the respective groups. Charcoal has been used as an adsorbent
and detoxifier since long. Previous studies showed activated carbon is effective in removing
various mycotoxins such as aflatoxin, ocharatoxin A, etc. (Dalvi and Ademoyero 1984,
Rotter et al. 1989). Natural toxins from plants are also removed or attenuated by activatedcharcoal treatment or supplementation (Banner et al. 2000, Bisson et al. 2001). Charcoal
also acts as sequestering agent for some toxins and anti-nutritional metabolites whichhave detrimental effects on animals (Moe Thu 2010). Dietary wood charcoal and vinegarcompound activated the intestinal functions and increased feed efficiency of piglets andchicken (Samanya and Yamauchi 2001, Mekbungwan et al. 2004). Activated charcoal not
only binds toxins or organic acids but it also controls pathogenic bacteria (Almagambetov
et al. 1992) and complexes with phenolics in the gastrointestinal track in order to preventhydrosable tannins interfering with enzyme function and protein digestion (Murdiati et al.
1991). In the present study, PBM were used which contains two by-products from plant
based industries: SDBP and okara. As a distillery product, SDBP might contain someorganic acids, polyphenolic compounds, toxins and strong alcoholic smell. It was assumed

Kader et al.: Improved Utilization of Plant By-Products Mixture for Juvenile Amberjack

9

that supplementation of BC might adsorbed these noxious substances of PBM whichfacilitated to increase feed intake, growth performance and feed utilization of fish.
Inclusion of PBM had no significant effects on whole body proximate compositionof amberjack. Whole body moisture was decreased; and crude protein and lipid weresignificantly increased by the supplementation of BC with PBM in all the respective groups.
There was a strong negative correlation between the percentages of body lipid and moisturein fish (Jobling 2001). Increased whole body protein and lipid content could be a reflectionof higher feed intake which would also increase the amount of protein and lipid intake andsubsequent accumulation in the carcass. Moreover, increased nitrogen retention by BC
supplementation might be one of the reasons for increasing carcass protein content of fish
(Moe Thu et al. 2010). In the present experiment, there was no significant effect on wholebody ash content. Yoo et al. (2005) also found similar results by feeding dietary charcoal
and wood vinegar mixture to Japanese flounder. In contrast, Kutlu et al. (2001) reported
that charcoal increased the mineral retention which ultimately increased the whole body ash
content in broiler chicken.
Blood parameters are important tools for the indication of the physiological stressresponse as well as the general health condition of fish. Blood parameters obtained in thepresent study are considered to be within the normal range for juvenile amberjack althoughsome variations were found among treatments (Ikeda and Minami 1982, Shimeno et al.
1992a, 1992b, Watanabe et al. 1998).

Conclusion
The observations in the present study on growth performances, feed utilization,
whole body carcass composition and hematological parameters therefore indicated that BC
supplementation was necessary for the effective utilization of PBM in low fish meal based
diet for juvenile amberjack. The research concluded that 5-10% PBM along with 4% dietary
BC in 25% fishmeal based diet could be effectively utilized by juvenile amberjack.

Acknowledgement
The first author would like to thank for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MONBUKAGAKUSHO), Japan for the scholarship provided toperform this research.

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10South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

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