Nutritional Characterization of Agro-Industrial By-Products Used in Aquafeed Formulation in Côte d'Ivoire

In Côte d’Ivoire, reliance on imported raw materials is hindering the development of aquaculture, given that feed accounts for 60-75% of production costs. The use of local agro-industrial co-products appears to be a strategic way of addressing this constraint. This study evaluated ten such co-products, including fish and bovine blood meals, insect larvae, soybean and cottonseed meals, rubber tree seeds, downgraded cashew kernels, low-grade rice flour, tchapalo distiller’s grains, and palm oil. Analyses focused on proximate composition and on fatty acid and amino acid profiles. Blood meal had the highest crude protein content (87.7%), followed by insect larvae and soybean meal (around 45%); whereas rice flour and tchapalo distiller’s grains contained less than 20% Palm oil (approximately 95% lipids) and rubber tree seeds (more than 50% lipids) were major energy sources, while fish meal provided long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Amino acid profiles confirmed the protein potential of blood meal and insect larvae but also revealed imbalances that require combining co-products in feed formulations. Overall, these local co-products could reduce the dependence on imported ingredients if judiciously incorporated into nutritionally balanced feeds