Evaluation of Soybeanmeal Quality as an Ingredient in Practical Diets for Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

Of potential protein sources, conventional soybean meal produced through traditional solvent extraction procedures has received the most attention among terrestrial plant sources, considering its well-balanced amino acid profile, worldwide availability, low price and consistent composition. Solvent extracted soybean meal (SBM) is generated using different varieties of soybeans grown under a range of conditions and then processed at different crushing plants. Due to its competitive cost and availability, it is a popular plant based protein source for shrimp feed formulations. However, limited information exists about the effects of variations in the nutritional composition of soybean meal generated in different geographical regions of the world on growth performances of shrimp. Presence of anti-nutritional factors is often referenced as one of the major drawbacks of SBM, which may limit its inclusion level in animal feeds. In response, various processing strategies were developed over time to diminish the adverse characteristics of traditional SBM. Despite the higher manufacturing cost, inclusion levels of these new SBM products in to aquatic animal feed formulations can still be limited due to the different sensitivities of fish/shrimp and/or due to the secondary negative characteristics caused during the processing methods. Hence, the present study was designed with two objectives, 1) to determine the effects of different soy bean meals sourced from different geographical locations in the world and 2) differently processed SBM on growth performances of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Several growth trials were conducted with iso-nitrogenous (350 g/kg protein) and iso-lipidic (80 g/kg lipid) test diets formulated with twenty-four sources of soybean meal sourced from different geographical locations of the world (objective one), two sources of solvent extracted soybean meal (SBM44 and SBM49), enzyme treated soybean meal (ETSBM), fermented soybean meal (FSBM) and alcohol extracted soy protein concentrate (SPC) (objective two). Results from these studies demonstrated that the phosphorous, phosphorous in phytic acid and total phytic acid and raffinose are important components in SBM that may have significant effects on the growth performances of Pacific white shrimp. Furthermore, it was inferred that the traditional solvent extracted soybean meal performed equally with the enzyme treated SBM (ETSBM) while reduced performances of fermented SBM (FSBM) and alcohol extracted soy protein concentrate (SPC) might be due to the low nutrient digestibility and palatability in Pacific white shrimp.