Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(7): 3587-3599 3587 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.907.419 Effect of Guar Sprout Meal on the Growth, Nutrient Utilization and Hematological Characteristics of Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (Gift) Fingerlings Nilima Priyadarshini 1* , Dinesh Kaippilly 1 , Chiranjiv Pradhan 1 and Marco Saroglia 2 1 Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Panangad, Kochi-682 506, India 2 Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences (DBSV), Animal Sciences and Aquaculture Unit, University of Insubria, O. Rossi 9, Pad. Antonini- 21100 Varese, Italy *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Fish meal is the major conventional feed ingredient widely used as a protein source in stock management because it offers a balanced source of indispensable amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. However, in recent decades the emerging demand for fishmeal imposed a major constraint in aquaculture expansion owing to declined availability, high competition in the market, unreasonable price levels and unbearable fusty odour during the manufacture. To overcome this bottleneck, researches explored towards an alternative protein sources especially from plant based products with equal nutritional values (Abdel- Fattah M et al., 2016). Among the plant protein sources, guar meal is one of the potential non-conventional feedstuffs, and International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 7 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The present study was carried out on the fingerlings of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) to investigate the effect of ‘Guar sprout meal (GSM)’ as a potential protein replacement of fishmeal. The experiment was set in triplicate with five isonitrogenous and isolipidic containing guar sprout meal at an inclusion rate of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% respectively. The practical diets were fed to triplicate groups of 20 fingerlings with mean initial body weight 4.26 ± 0.02 g reared in circular FRP tanks of 100 L capacity at 5-7% of their body weight. The results indicated that animals performed well at 25% and 50% inclusion levels of GSM. However, the diet containing 25% GSM interestingly gave higher final weight and specific growth rate compared to other treatments and control diet. It was observed that there was a significant decrease in growth rate, SGR, FCR, PER and feed utilizations with increasing GSM levels beyond 50%. The percentage survival obtained was 100% with all the treatments. The results conclude that GSM at an inclusion at 25-50% can be a promising and economically sustainable source protein and fish meal replacement in the diet of Nile tilapia fingerlings. Keywords Fish meal, Fingerlings, Guar sprout meal, Protein, Tilapia Accepted: 22 June 2020 Available Online: 10 July 2020 Article Info