In vivo digestibility of the fermented residual cake of Jatropha curcas seeds using tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

The residual cake of the Jatropha curcas seed is rich in protein, which is why it has nutritional characteristics to be used for animal feeding; however, because it contains toxic compounds, it is not used. The detoxification using fungi by solid-state fermentation have given positive results to remove toxic compounds such as phorbol esters. The residual cake fermented with endophytic fungi can be used as an alternative in feeding fish, for this reason, in the present study the digestibility of the residual paste as food of tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in the fingerling and juvenile stage was investigated. The results showed that the diets based on the fermented residual paste were more easily digested by juvenile Nilotic tilapia. The nutritional values determined in the diets used shown that the fermented paste meets the requirements for tilapia feeding, since they show similar values to conventional feed.