ABSTRACT
This chapter presents published information on research on the use of plant proteins in crustacean diets as partial or total replacement of fish meal and other marine products. There are a number of major plant protein sources, but their use in crustacean diets varies depending on their availability, price, farmer preferences or tradition, undesirable factors present in the ingredients, and lack of research data. Many of the protein sources are by-products of other industries, such as the oilseed meals obtained after extracting oils from the seeds. The use of plant proteins in crustacean diets has centered on the most available protein source; however, there is also considerable information with regard to other plant proteins, such as cottonseed meal and canola meal. There are a number of leaf meals that are commonly utilized by a number of animal production industries. Protein concentrates have been made from a wide variety of plant meals such as soybean, canola, corn, wheat, and pea.
