Determination of Chemical Composition, Mineral Contents, and Protein Quality of Iranian Kilka Fish Meal

In order to study the chemical composition, mineral contents and protein quality of Iranian Kilka fish meal, 6 samples of Kilka fish meal were provided from three commercial rendering plants. The proximate analysis showed that the average Dry Matter (DM), Ether Extract (EE), Crude Protein (CP), Crude Fiber (CF) and ash content of the Kilka fish meal samples were 94.5, 22.9, 59.1, 0.62, and 13.2 percent, respectively. The average Gross Energy (GE) value for the Kilka fish meal samples was 5574 kcal kg^-1. The average values of major elements including Ca, P, Na, K, Cl, Mg, and S were 3.97, 2.61, 0.83, 0.52, 0.64, 0.27, and 0.39 percent, respectively, and these values for trace elements including Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Se were 229.3, 6.2, 3.7, 74.5, and 1.58 mg kg^-1, respectively. Biological evaluation of protein quality was done by chicks fed a nitrogen-free basal diet (as negative control) or chicks fed semipurified diets containing 10 percent crude protein from the Kilka fish meal or Peruvian fish meal or Chile fish meal (both as positive controls) as the sole source of dietary protein. The values of Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) and Net Protein Ratio (NPR) showed significant differences (p<0.05) among the Kilka fish meal samples and varied between 2.41 to 3.41 and 3.07 to 3.97, respectively. The PER and NPR values for the Kilka fish meal samples were significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of Peruvian fish meal and Chile fish meal.