Purge lecithin for less-expensive diet formulation for black tiger prawn Penaeus monodon

The knowledge of the nutrient requirements and practical diet formulations for Penaeus monodon is fully known. In the production cost, the cost of diet alone comes around 50 to70%. This is mainly because of the addition of lecithin which is a relatively expensive dietary ingredient. It is important to determine the usefulness of lecithin in the growth of P. monodon. In order to keep the diet cost as low as possible this experiment was designed with and without lecithin. The objective of the present study was to assess the growth of shrimp with varying lecithin doses. To study the water quality parameters and to study the growth and survival of animals feed containing different percentage of lecithin. Trials conducted indicated the soybean lecithin did not have any effect on shrimpʹs growth. The shrimp weight varied from 3.15 to 8g in Control, 2.58 to 6g in Treatment A, 2.87 to 6.62g in Treatment B, 3.1 to 6.75g in Treatment C. These confirm that under a controlled clear water culture system, partial or complete replacement of soybean lecithin in a commercial diet for P. monodon resulted in no detriment in growth. Purge lecithin in the diet may allow for less-expensive diet formulations for P. monodon and may reduce the diet cost for producers, who are supplying feed. As diet cost represents the largest variable cost in a commercial aquaculture operation, increased knowledge of specific dietary requirements is essential for formulating a cost-effective commercial P. monodon diet