3. Results
3.1. Chemical composition of feed ingredients and diets
The CP content of feed ingredientswas highest in shrimp headmeal,
followed in descending order by golden apple snail meal, soybean meal,
groundnut cake, cassava leafmeal and sweet potato leafmeal (Table 2).
The EE content was highest in groundnut cake, followed by cassava leaf
meal, whilst the content of CF and NDF showed different patterns
amongst the six feed ingredients. The highest CF content was found in
cassava leaf meal, whilst the highest NDF content was found in sweet
potato leaf meal. The gross energy content varied amongst feed
ingredients within the range of 12.1–19.5 MJ kg−1, with the lowest
and highest values being found in golden apple snail meal and
groundnut cake, respectively. The essential amino acid (EAA) profile
varied amongst feed ingredients (Table 2). In general, most individual
EAA were lowest in cassava leaf meal, sweet potato leaf meal and
groundnut cake. In contrast, shrimp head meal and golden apple snail
meal were high in most EAA.
The chemical composition, gross energy content and EAA profiles
were similar amongst diets, with a CP content of 225–234 g kg−1, GE
content of 16.2–17.2 MJ kg−1 and total EAA content of 89.8–98.8 g kg−1
(Table 3).