Protein utilization and in-vitro protein synthesis in young rats given gruels of sprouted white maize supplemented with graded amounts of dried fish

Abstract

Sprouted white maize meal was supplemented with 5, 10, 15 and 20% (w/w) sundried pelagic fish meal. The nutritive value for young rats fed gruels of these mixtures was determined. The protein, fat, ash, and energy contents of the dried gruels increased when the amount of fish in the diet increased. Both supplemented and unsupplemented samples showed high true digestibilities (above 90%) and there was no statistical difference between them. NPUop and NDp-Cal% increased with increasing amount of fish in the diet. Supplemented maize meals at the 10, 15 and 20% levels were better utilized than the unsupplemented diet (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a decreased in-vitro protein synthetic capacity was shown in animals fed low protein diets. There was good correlation (r = 0.90) between weight gain and synthetic activity. Supplementation of sprouted white maize meal with 5–10% fish protein was sufficient to optimize the protein utilization in young rats.