Apparent digestibility coefficients of different energetic ingredients for surubim juveniles

It was determined, in this work, the nutritional value of four energetic feeds (corn meal, sorghum, whole rice bran, and ground rice) for surubim juveniles. Apparent digestibility coefficients of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), and gross energy (GE) were evaluated by food replacement methodology in a reference-feeding using 0.1% of chromic oxide as an external marker. It was used 240 fingerlings with an average weight of 30 g distributed in tanks fitted for faeces collection. A complete random design with four diets, each one with four replicates, was used. Apparent digestibility coefficient of dry matter for corn meal was 62.3%; for rice bran, 59.7%; for ground rice, 40.4%, and for sorghum, 38%. Digestibility coefficients for crude protein were, in this order, the following: 87.4, 83.8, 85.3 and 81.1% and digestibility coefficient for gross energy were: 62.4, 66.4, 46.9 and 47.8%. Among the evaluated feeds, the one with the highest digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and gross energy is the rice bran and the one with the lowest digestibility is the sorghum.