Available Lysine as an Index of Fish Meal Quality

Abstract FISH meal is widely used in the United States in the formulation of poultry feeds. Because of variability in the raw material, processing conditions, and storage conditions, its protein quality is variable. Feeding trials such as chick growth methods (Grau et al, 1959; Rand et al., 1960) may be used to evaluate the quality, but are too slow and expensive for routine quality control work. A chemical method for determining the relative nutritional quality of fish meal would be very useful to both producers and consumers. It appeared to us that the “available” lysine determination developed by Carpenter and his coworkers in England showed promise for this purpose. They found a good correlation between the “available” (having a free epsilon amino group) lysine and the gross protein value of a variety of protein materials including a number of fish samples (Carpenter, 1958). The gross protein value was determined by a…