Background and Objective: Fishmeal is considered the most expensive major source of protein commonly used in domestic animal feeds and in commercial aquafeeds. This study aimed to investigate the proximate composition, mineral contents and heavy metal contamination of the five most populous fishmeal available within the South-West of Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Samples were collected from commercial fishmeal whole sellers and analyzed accordingly. Proximate composition, mineral contents and heavy metal composition determined. Results: Results reveal significant differences (p<0.05) in the values obtained. For proximate composition, Carbohydrate, Crude Protein, Crude Fat, Moisture Ash and Crude Fibre contents ranged from 6.270.07-19.870.10, 52.130.04-81.380.15, 3.730.06-6.840.05, 2.890.06-8.60.07, 4.080.06-5.210.02 and 1.650.02-9.30.14% among samples, respectively. Mineral contents (Na, K, Ca, Fe, Mg, P) for all five samples were significantly different at (p<0.05), while values of heavy metal contents revealed Cd, Pb, Hg, Cu, Zn and Cr concentrations ranging between 0.0030.002-0.0820.02, 0.0020.02-0.00, 0.00160.00-0.00610.00, 0.2910.03-1.0591.56, 1.020.27-2.5340.36 and 0.0010.00-0.0150.00 mg kgG 1 , respectively. However, some values fell above the FAO/WHO permissible limit for heavy metals. Conclusion: It was concluded that more attention should be given to the sources of fishmeal used in feed production and constant monitoring of their chemical composition as not all fishmeal sold commercially are high-grade fishmeal.
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Bernard et al. (2022) studied this question.
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