Unit Code: FIS707
Unit Title: Food Ingredients & Nutrients Metabolism
This unit is aimed at assisting students to understand the methods of animal feed formulation based on specific nutrients and energy requirements, and appreciate the effect of wrong feed preparation on animal metabolism. The Unit prepares students to be able to process assorted feed ingredients with necessary nutrients. Topics covered under the Unit include; fish nutrition, with focus on the advantages of energy metabolism in fish, and contemporary challenging nutritional issues confronting the aquaculture industry. The nutrition and metabolism in fish component details protein and energy ratio nutrient requirements for selected fish species, as well as the use of existing knowledge of nutrient compositions and requirements for specific fish species. The Unit takes students through the process of Proximate analysis, the first step in measuring the specific compositions of formulated diets and feed in ensuring that formulated feed meets set requirements for target fish species. The use of feed additives is also discussed in the Unit to help students acquire the skills of optimizing nutrient qualities in aquatic feeds. In the final part of the Unit, students are given the opportunity to learn about alternative sources of fish proteins from local plants and insects, as an alternative approach to replace costly fish meal and fish oil that currently dominate the ingredient of many aquacultures feeds.