Digestibilidade aparente de farinha de carne e ossos de peixe para tilápia do Nilo

This paper was aimed to determine the apparent digestibility of crude protein, crude fat, gross energy, calcium and phosphorus of tilapia meat and bone meal (Oreochromis niloticus) (TMBM), the catfish meat and bone meal (Ictalurus punctatus) (CMBM), pintado cathfish meat and bone meal (Pseudoplatystoma corruscans) (PCMBM) and the African catfish meat and bone meal (Clarias gariepinus) (ACMBM) for Nile tilapia. For that, the indirect method was used, using chromium (III) oxide (Cr2O3), as an inert indicator incorporated in the ration of 1 g·kg-1. Nile tilapia (400 fish) were distributed with 50±7.89 g (mean ± SD) in 20 conical tanks in a completely randomized experimental design, consisting of five treatments with four replications. The treatments consisted of a reference diet and four diets consisting of 800 g·kg-1 of reference diet and 200 g·kg-1 of the test ingredients. The PCMBM showed a better digestibility coefficients for crude protein, calcium and phosphorus, while TMBM obtained a higher value for digestible energy and crude fat. The highest mineral matter result was obtained from CMBM. The results of this study suggest that Nile tilapia has limited ability to digest and use the components in the evaluated ingredients. The presence of large amounts of structural collagen in these ingredients and their low digestibility may have caused reduction in the availability of calcium and phosphorus.