Effect of replacing dietary soybean meal with pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) seed cake on growth, feed utilization, haematological parameters and fatty acid composition of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Abstract

In recent years, aquaculture has dramatically increased concomitant with the global demand for aquatic species (Dawood et al., 2020), with fish feed being the greatest single cost item in aquaculture, accounting for approximately 50% of the total operating costs in intensively reared fish (Ayyat et al., 2021). The increasing demand for fish meal and soybean meal, which are used as protein sources in aquatic feed, as well as the market price increases and fluctuations have caused the aquaculture industry to seek sustainable and costeffective alternative feed ingredients (

Effect of Substituting Soybean Meal in Oreochromis niloticus Diets with Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) Seed Cake on Water Quality, Growth, Antioxidant Capacity, Immunity, and Carcass Composition

“…VSI and HSI showed significant differences in favor of PSC inclusion compared to the control. Our findings contradicted those of Sezgin and Aydın [17], who concluded that PSC had no significant influence on HSI or VSI. However, our result could be explained by several studies, including those of Caili et al [39], Nkosi et al [40], Bardaa et al [16], Musthafa et al [41], and Salehi et al [14], which suggest that the observed improvements in VSI and HSI in tilapia fed with diets containing PSC are likely due to a complex interplay of metabolic processes influenced by the nutritional composition of the feed.…”

“…The results of this study corroborate those of Caili et al [39], who found that pumpkin seeds could efficiently reduce serum triglyceride levels and cholesterol. Similarly, Sezgin and Aydın [17] found that increasing the inclusion level of PSC in mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) diets led to a decrease in both cholesterol and triglyceride levels, with a continued effect on cholesterol until reaching 100% inclusion. This notable reduction could be attributed to PSC's phytosterol bioactive components, which might affect both the expression levels of genes related to cholesterol and lipid metabolism and the activity of hepatic enzymes [17,43].…”

“…Proteins isolated from PSC exhibited significantly higher concentrations of total sulfur amino acids than SM. Furthermore, PSC contains an abundant concentration of unsaturated fatty acids, including linoleic acid (50.9%), stearic acid (6.7%), palmitic acid (14.8%), and oleic acid (25.8%) [16,17]. Moreover, PSC has a low moisture content of about 7%, which makes it a suitable feed constituent for long-term storage and transport.…”

“…Utilizing by-products such as PSC in animal feeds can provide an economic benefit due to their reduced market price and provide feed producers with alternative feed ingredients. Nevertheless, limited studies have investigated the potential of PSC as a feed ingredient in practical fish feeds [17,19,20]. Furthermore, the results of these reports are inconsistent and require further investigation.…”

Dietary Artemisia, Artemisia annua , supplementation improves common carp welfare under high stocking density

“…Due to the increasing global population, increasing production in the animal sector is essential for healthy nutrition (FAO, 2020). Common carp, Cyprinus carpio , is one of the most important freshwater fish species in the world, reared either semi‐intensively or intensively (Sezgin & Aydın, 2021). In the developing world where resources are scarce, common carp is an economical and sustainable food source.…”