Effects of Eco-Organic Feed on Growth Performance, Biometric Indices, and Nutrient Retention of Gilthead Seabream ( Sparus aurata )

Eslam Tefal (), Ana Tomás-Vidal, Silvia Martínez-Llorens, Ignacio Jauralde, David Sánchez-Peñaranda and Miguel Jover-Cerdá
Additional contact information
Eslam Tefal: Research Group of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Universitat Politécnica de València Camino de Vera 14, 46071 València, Spain
Ana Tomás-Vidal: Research Group of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Universitat Politécnica de València Camino de Vera 14, 46071 València, Spain
Silvia Martínez-Llorens: Research Group of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Universitat Politécnica de València Camino de Vera 14, 46071 València, Spain
Ignacio Jauralde: Research Group of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Universitat Politécnica de València Camino de Vera 14, 46071 València, Spain
David Sánchez-Peñaranda: Research Group of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Universitat Politécnica de València Camino de Vera 14, 46071 València, Spain
Miguel Jover-Cerdá: Research Group of Aquaculture and Biodiversity, Institute of Animal Science and Technology, Universitat Politécnica de València Camino de Vera 14, 46071 València, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: This study examined how eco-organic feed affects the growth performance, nutrient efficiency, feed utilisation, and body composition of gilthead seabream. Six different diets were tested, including a control diet (CONT) without organic ingredients and four diets with 100% organic ingredients: trout (TRO), seabass (SBS), poultry (POU), and mix (MIX), along with a control organic diet (ORG) containing organic ingredients and 30% fishmeal. The experiment lasted 70 days, and the fish were fed twice a day, starting with an initial weight of 60.5 g. The results showed that the highest growth rates were observed in fish fed the ORG and CONT diets containing fishmeal. Conversely, the POU diet resulted in the lowest growth rate, survival rate, and highest value for feed conversion ratio (FCR). Almost all essential amino acid efficiency values were high in fish fed the ORG and CONT diets. Still, significant differences were noted in the retention efficiency of fatty acids across all diets. The retention efficiency was higher in the CONT diet, followed by the ORG diet. However, the economic conversion rate was lower for CONT, SBS, TRO, and MIX. Overall, using organic diets of animal origin impacted the growth performance of gilthead seabream, but it is still a promising approach.

Keywords: sustainable aquaculture; organic diets; amino acids; organic fish; organic production; fishmeal substitution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/10750/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/10750/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:10750-:d:1189664

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().