Physical Properties and Water Stability of Wheat and Cassava flour Binders for Fish Feed Formulation

Abstract

The experiment assessed the binding effects and some physical properties of wheat and cassava flour binders used in fish feed formulation. Three diets were formulated using cassava, wheat and a combination of cassava and wheat flours in a ratio of 1:1 as binders. These diets were designated as Treatments 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The physical properties evaluated were pellet-ability and dustiness. Water stability test included: weight gain, sinking time/rate, relative absorption rate and absorption efficiency rate. The results showed that all treatments produced high binding potential. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in pellet-ability amongst the treatments, with values of 99.86±0.25%, 99.62±0.19% and 98.76±0.59% for Treatments 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Dustiness showed a significant difference (p<0.05) amongst the treatments. Treatment 3 recorded a low value of 0.64% which was significantly difference (p<0.05) from Treatments 1 and 2 while Treatment 2 had the highest value of 1.00%. The water stability test showed that Treatment 3 had the best sinking time rate of 4.33±0.04sec and sinking time index of 0.23±0.00sec^-1 which were significantly different (p<0.05) from the other treatments. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) between Treatments 2 and 3 in water stability test, but they were both significantly different (p<0.05) from Treatment 1. Treatment 3 had the best water stability value of 92.04% and Treatment 1 the least with a value of 80.28%. The binders proved to be more effective when used in combination.

Keywords: Leaching, fish feed, fish farming, binders, eutrophication