Farinha de folha de leucena (Leucaena leucocephala lam. de wit) como fonte de proteína para juvenis de tambaqui (colossoma macropomum cuvier, 1 84 8).

Abstract

Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is an omnivorous fish, native to the Amazon drain basin and present high commercial value. Rusticity and high productive are characteristics that make the species interesting for culture. However, in commercial fish culture, the feeding costs can represent 50 to 70% of the total production costs and the protein is the most expensive nutrient of the diet. Fish meal has been used traditionally as protein source in fish feeds, but the high cost of this product has motivated the study of altemative protein sources. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of partia1 replacement of fish meal protein (FP) by the leucena leaf meal protein (FFL) in diets for juvenile tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). A total of 240 juvenile were distributed in 12 plastic boxes (350 L) in a completely randomized design with four treatments (O%, 7%, 14%, 21% replacement of the fish meal protein by the leucena leaf protein) and three replicates. Fish body protein concentration, feed conversion ratio, weight gain and water physicochemical parameters were analyzed. No significant difference (p>0,05) was found for all parameters among treatments, indicating that it is possible to replace 21% of FP by the FFL in rations for juvenile tambaqui.