Effect of leucaena leucocephala seed diet on nile tiapia (oreochromis niloticus) flesh texture

The quality of Nile tilapia fillet is significant for consumer preferences. Thus, it is important to supply the fish with good quality of feed which able to enhance the flesh texture quality. This research was conducted to determine the effect of Leucaena leucocephala seed diet on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) flesh texture through texture profile analysis (TPA) and colour evaluation in producing the best quality of tilapia fillets. For texture evaluation, the value for hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness and springiness of tilapia fillets were measured while for colour evaluation the L*, a* and b* values were evaluated. Nile tilapia were raised within six weeks and were fed with different percentage of L. leucocephala seed diets. The feeds that were used in this experiment were; Control: formulated diet with 0% of L. leucocephala seed meals, Treatment 1: formulated diet with 25% of L. leucocephala seed meals and Treatment 2: formulated diet with 30% of L. leucocephala seed meals. The feed were given according to 5% of its average body weight. A total of 30 Nile tilapia fingerlings for each treatment were used. Each treatment was replicated three times. The results for texture analysis showing that tilapia fillets which fed with control diets show highest value for hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness at 5899.60 g, 0.55, 3234.20 g, and 1346.92 mJ respectively. The value for springiness was highest for Treatment 2 at 42.81 mm followed by Treatment 1 at 42.66 mm and Control at 42.44 mm. For colour evaluation, the result obtained for a* value which represent the redness of fish fillets showed significant difference and the highest a* value was Control diets followed by Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 at 6.01, 4.23, and 3.33 respectively. In conclusion, control diets have show better quality of flesh texture that is preferable by consumers.