UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

Rapid growth in aquaculture has increased the demand for affordable and nutritionally adequate fish feeds. However, conventional feed ingredients such as fishmeal and soybean meal are costly and often unsustainable. Fruit waste from fruits, including mango waste, banana peels, and papaya peels, offers a rich source of carbohydrates, fibre, antioxidants, and micronutrients that can be upcycled into fish feed ingredients. This study focuses on the development, nutritional characterization, and evaluation of low-cost fish feeds formulated using dried and powdered mango waste (seed kernels and peel), banana peels, and papaya peels. The waste materials were cleaned, dried, milled, and incorporated into experimental feed formulations at different treatment combinations. T1, T2, and T3 exhibited comparable nutritional compositions, with moisture ranging from 7.85–8.12%, crude protein 14.52–16.28%, crude fat 5.62–6.14%, crude fibre 10.87–13.04%, ash 8.56–9.45%, and carbohydrate content 47.85–50.77%. The nutritional composition, including moisture, crude protein, crude fat, ash, crude fibre, and carbohydrate content, was analyzed. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) between treatment groups. The results demonstrated that fruit waste–based feed formulations can serve as a cost-effective alternative with acceptable nutritional properties for aquaculture species, contributing to circular economy and waste valorization.