Effect of different dietary levels of plant protein on growth indexes of white Leg shrimp

The influence of different dietary levels of plant protein (30, 50 and 70%) on growth indices of White Leg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) fed with an original 38 percent protein was assessed and compared with that of the commercial shrimp diet. The average weight gain at the end of the culture period in treatment 1 (30% plant protein and 70% animal protein), was 5.89 plus or minus 0.06 grams, for treatment 2 (50% plant protein and 50% animal protein), was 6.22 plus or minus 0.25 grams, for treatment 3 (70% plant protein and 30% animal protein), was 6.19 plus or minus 0.24 grams and for the control treatment (20% plant protein and 80% animal protein), was 6.42 plus or minus 0.40 grams. Our study of the influence of experimental and control diets on growth indices including growth rate (GR), food conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), specific growth rate (SGR), and average daily gain (ADG), demonstrated that the indices were better in the control compared to the treatments. No significant difference was found among the treatments and between the treatments and the control for the indices (P>0.05). The percent of net protein utilization (NPU) in treatment 1 was significantly more than other treatments (P