The use of citrus pulp silage in Diplodus puntazzo nutrition

Purpose Studying the effect of citrus pulp silage in the growth performance, amino acid retention of sharpsnout sea breamjuveniles.Methods Citrus pulp is an energy and protein source that has been used to replace wheat meal in Diplodus puntazzo fingerlings;96 fish of 21.5 ± 0.67 g were nourished with two experimental diets for 105 days. The control diet (CON) contained421.6 g/kg of protein and 22.6 MJ/kg of energy. The citrus pulp diet (CPD) included 442.7 g/kg of protein and 22.02 MJ/kg of energy.Results At the end of this trial, the CPD did not affect the growth parameters, but the feed efficiency values exhibited statisticallysignificant differences, with those fish fed the CPD having higher values, possibly due to the presence of limonene inthe diet. The CPD also resulted in a reduction in amino acid (AA) content due to the protein being bound to fibre; this consequencedid not affect the final fish AA profile. For AA retention, only arginine displayed significant differences, althoughthe rest of the AAs also showed effects of AA reduction from the CPD.Conclusion Citrus pulp silage can be used in D. puntazzo feeding, without adverse in the growth performance and the aminoacid profile, although it did cause a reduction in feed efficiency.