LAUSR

Abstract This study evaluated the effects of substituting fishmeal with cottonseed protein concentrate (CPC) on growth, flesh quality and gossypol deposition of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. A basal diet was formulated to contain 700 g/kg fishmeal, and then CPC was used to replace 0% (FM), 15% (C15), 30% (C30), 45% (C45), 70% (C70) of dietary fishmeal. The five diets were fed to largemouth bass with initial body weight of 95.3 g for 12 weeks. The results indicated that 45% of fishmeal could be successfully replaced by CPC without significant impacts on weight gain (WG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P > 0.05), while WG was decreased by 11.7% and FCR was increased by 0.22 when 70% fishmeal was replaced by CPC. The retention efficiencies of crude protein and essential amino acids were affected linearly or quadratically by dietary CPC levels (P   0.05). Conclusively, up to 45% fishmeal could be successfully replaced by CPC without compromising the growth, flesh composition, texture, flavor characteristics and antioxidant capacity, while 70% fishmeal replacement by CPC produced negative effects on the growth performance and flesh quality of largemouth bass.