Flesh quality differentiation of wild and cultured Nile tilapia (<i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>) populations

Abstract

Variation in chemical composition and carcass traits among different wild and cultured Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus populations were analyzed to study and compare the differences among different wild (Manzalah lake, Nile river and Edku lake) and cultured Nile tilapia populations. Data of body composition of different Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) populations showed that, the highest mean value of moisture content (80.32 ± 0.39%) was shown by cultured population and differ significantly (P≤0.05) from those of other populations studied. The highest mean value of protein content (58.14 ± 0.51%) was shown by cultured population but did not differ significantly (P≤0.05) from that of River Nile population. Lipids content showed lower mean (21.74 ± 0.06%) by River Nile population but did not differ significantly (P≤0.05) from that of cultured population. The results of carcass traits show insignificant differences (P≤0.05) in all parameters among different Nile tilapia populations studied. The evaluation of flesh quality of different wild and cultured populations of Nile tilapia studied can result in a genotype suitable for aquaculture.

Key words: Flesh quality, wild, cultured, Nile tilapia, population.