Aquaculture feed ingredients tend to be mostly by-products of processing or milling industries, but also consist of natural products. In everyday formulation of diets, these ingredients are included and substitutions made within mixtures in accordance with market price, local availability and composition. Basically, the concept is to use available ingredients in the most economical way to provide the essential nutrient content and balance of the final diet. Different proportions of less expensive ingredients can often be combined to achieve the nutrient balance of more expensive ones. However, it is also necessary to consider factors such as the quality, palatability and functional properties of ingredients as well as the possible content of anti-nutritional components that are known to affect the growth and health of fish.

The purpose of this paper is to briefly review published information about five of the most commonly available feed ingredients of plant origin, and to provide guidelines for quality standards and usage of these ingredients in aquaculture feeds.