Assessing the growth and physiological performance of juvenile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with the inclusion of new banana by-products in starter diets

Abstract

The high worldwide amount of residues derived from the banana harvest is an opportunity to create synergies between the banana industry and aquaculture, from a circular economy perspective. The present work objective is to evaluate the inclusion of banana by-products, such as banana pseudo-stem and banana flower in tilapia feeds, and to explore the extracts from the banana flower on the development and health in tilapia juveniles. Three consecutive feeding trials were performed to evaluate the test by-products inclusions: Experiment I) with 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 15% and 20% of banana pseudo-stem; Experiment II) with 0%, 0.2%, 0.5%, 1% and 3% of banana flower; and Experiment III) with 3% of banana flower against its correspondent organic extract and residue of the extraction. Salinity stress challenges were conducted after the feeding trials in Experiments II and III. From the obtained results, up to 5% of banana pseudo-stem and 3% of banana flower inclusion were suitably regarded the fish growth and the liver health, also, as the essential fatty acids proportion in the muscle, despite the reduction in total lipid percentage. Regarding the stress challenges, the flower and more specific, the remaining residue from its organic extraction, appears to regulate the levels of plasma cortisol and glucose and reduce the oxidation parameters in fish liver and muscle, which may be due to the polyphenols present in both, the whole banana flower and in its organic extraction residue.