Bioconversion of Sago Hampas to Value Added Feed for Aquaculture

ABSTRACT Nowadays, research on the use of alternatives and locally available feed ingredients, such as plant protein and carbohydrate sources had been done intensively due to an increasing cost of the major ingredients of feed namely fishmeal and soybean meal that are not commercially produced by tropical countries. In east Malaysia, specifically Sarawak, waste from sago starch processing industry is one of the agro-residues which are abundantly available. Therefore, research on bioconversion involving sago waste into value added product is of great interest. The best method to complete the research on bioconversion of sago hampas is solid substrate fermentation as this process vitalizing the natural surroundings of majority microorganism mainly fungi. Some of microbes with the ability of producing fiber degrading enzymes namely cellulase, ligninase, xylanase and mannanase enzyme, can be used for treating sago waste, thus improving its nutritive value to be accepted as feed especially for fish. Therefore, this research aims to develop nutritional enriched fish feed produced from sago waste via solid substrate fermentation and its silage inclusion into diets for aquaculture. This research also aim to screen and evaluate the potentials of locally isolated fibrolytic bacterial strains to develop the microbial formulation that can be applied in the bioconversion of sago hampas agricultural waste into aquaculture feed via solid substrate fermentation. This research meets the increasing demands for an alternative and locally produced aquaculture feed with the advancement of the aquaculture industry in the state of Sarawak. Biopenukaran hampas sagu kepada makanan bernilai tambah untuk akuakultu