Replacing dietary starch with pitted date fruit in nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (L.) feed

Four isocaloric-isonitrogenous rations containing various levels (0%, 15%, 30%, and 45%) of wasted date as a replacement for starch were fed to three replicate groups of Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus) fingerlings with a mean initial weight of 2.5 g. Ten randomly selected fish were tested for 9 weeks in 60-1 circular tanks. Each tank was considered as an experimental unit. The tanks were put together in a flow-through system utilizing filtered and aerated ground or well water (24 ± 3°C). Tilapia weight gain, feed conversion, specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio were improved with diets containing date (15%, 30% and 45%) as compared with the starch diet (0% date diet). The diet containing 30% date was superior to all other test diets in terms of all the above growth parameters. Body moisture, crude protein and total ash were gradually increased as the level of date in the feeds was increased, while body fat was reduced.