Total Nitorgen Content from Earthworm (Eisenia Foetida) Using The Kjeldahl Method

Abstract

In the fish aquaculture management, fish feed is identified as a major problem. The high cost and scarcity of fishmeal in formulated feeds have led to the use of other protein sources such as earthworms and animal by-product. Earthworm is an alternative protein source to replace the fish meal in the fish feed formulation. In this study, total nitrogen content in earthworm powder is determined using the Kjeldahl method by employing the statistical software, Full Factorial Design (FFD) which could provide the significant information about the studied parameters. The parameters are the digestion time (min) and the volume of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) (ml). From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the volume of H2SO4and the interaction between digestion time and the volume of H2SO4arefound to be important parameters in the nitrogen determination process via the Kjeldahl method. The highest nitrogen content obtained was 12.23% when using 15 ml H2SO4 and 60 mins of digestion time. The value of R2 is 0.9986 which shows that the selected parameters (the digestion time and the volume of H2SO4) and its corresponding levels are highly correlated to the percentage nitrogen content in earthworm powder using the Kjeldahl method. ABSTRAK:Dalam pengurusan akuakultur ikan, makanan telah dikenalpasti sebagai masalah utama. Kos yang tinggi serta kekurangan sumber makanan telah menggalakkan pencarian sumber protein baru seperti cacing tanah dan hasil sampingan sembelihan haiwan ternakan. Cacing adalah sumber protein alternatif menggantikan ramuan ikan (fish meal) dalam formulasi makanan ikan. Dalam kajian ini, kandungan jumlah nitrogen dalam serbuk cacing tanah telah dianalisa menggunakan kaedah Kjeldahl dengan menggunapakai perisian statistikal iaitu Full Factorial Design (FFD) yang boleh memberikan maklumat yang penting berkenaan dengan parameter-parameter yang dikaji. Parameter-parameter tersebut adalah masa pencernaan (min) dan isipadu asid sulfurik (H2SO4) (ml). Daripada analisa varian (ANOVA), isipadu H2SO4 dan interaksi antara masa pencernaan dan isipadu H2SO4 telah dikenalpasti sebagai parameter-parameter utama dalam proses penentuan kandungan nitrogen melalui kaedah Kjeldahl. Kandungan nitrogen yang tertinggi diperolehi adalah 12.23% bila menggunakan 15 ml H2SO4 dan 60 minit masa pencernaan. Nilai R2 adalah 0.9986 menunjukkan bahawa parameter-parameter (masa pencernaan dan isipadu H2SO4) dan aras yang dipilih mempunyai perkaitan langsung yang tinggi dengan kandungan nitrogen dalam serbuk cacing dengan menggunakan kaedah Kjeldahl.KEYWORDS: nitrogen content;, earthworm; Kjeldahl method

Application of Vermicompost Fertilizer in Aquaculture Nutrition: Review

“…For ages, earthworms have been utilized as agents of vermicomposting biotechnology to sustain soil fertility, reclaim wasteland, and treat organic wastes to a relatively less homogenous and desirable esthetic compound. The vermicomposting biotechnology takes advantage of the voracious, fast-growing, and reproduction nature of earthworms to convert organic waste to highly nutritious compounds [7,8].…”

“…The vermicomposting products are earthworm biomass and vermiwastes: vermicompost (solid waste) and vermiliquid (liquid waste). The earthworm biomass is either fed directly to aquatic organisms or used as the protein source in formulating fish diets [7][8][9]. Nonetheless, the earthworms biomass utilization in fish feed production is limited by processing challenges (handling, harvesting, and gut content evacuation) and the presence of anti-nutritional factors (coelom fluid and chitin), which inhibit uptake, digestion, and assimilation by aquatic organisms [8,9].…”

Utilization of the earthworm,Eisenia fetida(Savigny, 1826) as an alternative protein source in fish feeds processing: A review

“…The vermiliquid too can be utilized in formulating feed fish. Zhenjun et al (1997) (Kobayashi, Ohtomi, Sekizawa & Ohta, 2001;Mukti et al, 2012;Zakaria, Rahayu, MohdSalleh & Siti, 2013).…”

“…Most studies often use the Kjeldahl method to estimate the crude protein contents in E. fetida (Bou-Maroun et al, 2013;Chiu et al, 2015;De Chaves et al, 2015;Dynes, 2003;Gunya et al, 2016;Mohanta et al, 2016;Mukti et al, 2012;Rondón et al, 2003;Zhenjun et al, 1997). Zakaria et al (2013) involved the statistical software (full factorial design) to compare digestion time and the volume of acid (H 2 SO 4 ) using the Kjeldahl method. The authors suggested the worm sample to be digested for over 60 min in 15 ml H 2 SO 4 to produce the highest percentage levels of nitrogen contents in the worms.…”

“…Zakaria et al (2013) achieved a high crude protein reading of 76.5% dry matter on E. fetida without evacuating gut contents. Other authors who did not evacuate gut contents and obtained relatively high crude protein of 70.42%, 56.9%, 70.3% and 60.65% dry matter are Bou-Maroun et al (2013), Vodounnou, Juste, et al (2016), De Chaves et al (2015) and Chiu et al (2015) respectively.…”