CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF THE FISH MEAL PRODUCED FROM ARTEMIA SP.

Artemia sp. samples were gathered from three regions, including Urmia Lake, earthem ponds beside Urmia Lakeand Ghom Salt Lake. After drying and grinding the samples chemical tests were implemented to determine nutritional value and the mineral composition of the samples. In the next step, under in vitro condition, protein digestibility of samples was determined with Pepsin enzyme method and active lysine was assayed by dye binding method.
Results showed that nutritional value of Artemia sp. meal is variable. We found that species, region and season of harvest and biomass impurity bring about part of the variability. In Peps indigestibility test, there was a significant difference between the meal produced from Artemia sp. of Urmia Lake and other locations (P<0.05). The highest digestibility was recorded for the Artemia sp of the Ghom Salt Lake (92.74%) and the lowest was found for that of the Urmia Lake (90.47%). For active lysine value, no significant difference was found between the locations. The highest value of the active lysine belonged to the fish meal produced from Artemia sp. of the Urmia Lake (36.68 mmol/16g N) and the lowest value related to the Ghom Artemia sp. (21.65 mmol/16gN).