Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

Unit 13 - Non-conventional feed ingredients and anti-nutritional factors

13.4.Krill

Krill meal has been reported to contain 55 percent protein, 10 percent moisture, 10-15 percent fat and 15.2 percent ash. The remaining portion of the composition is probably chitin.

Analysis of the amino acid contents of krill meal show that amino acid profiles approximate with that of herring meal. A possible explanation for the inferior performance of krill is probably related to its high ash content. A process for reducing ash content of crustacea meals by a milling and screening technique has been reported that not only reduces the ash but also increases the protein level of the final product.

In feeding salmonids, krill provides an important source of carotenoids. Salmonids are incapable of synthesizing carotenoids and their characteristic red colour can only be derived from ingested carotenoids. In both Europe and the USA, carotenoids are formulated into the diets by the addition of crustacean and/or synthetic carotenoids such as canthaxanthine.