Growth and nutritional performance of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) fed varying inclusion levels of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf meal

摘要

ThegrowthandnutritionalperformanceofMoringaoleiferaleafmealasaningredientinthedietofAfricancatfish,Clariasgariepinus,ofmeanweight11.54±2.1gwasevaluatedovera56-daygrowthperiod.Moringaleavesweretreatedbysoakinginwaterfor5daysandsun-dried.ThegradedlevelofMoringaoleiferaleafusedwere0.00%(control)5%,10%,15%,20%and25%replacementoffishmealindiet1,2,3,4,5,6respectively.Alldietswereisonitrogenous(40%protein).The56-dayfeedingtrialwasconductedinglasstanks,eachtreatmenthavingthreereplicates.Fishfedthecontroldiet,recordedthebestgrowthperformanceinbodyweightgainandSpecificGrowthRate(SGR).Therewerenosignificantdifferencesbetweenfishfedthecontroldietandthosefed5and10%Moringaleafmealreplacementoffishmealintreatments1and2(P0.05).However,significantlyreducedgrowthandnutritionalperformancewererecordedindietswithelevatedinclusionlevelsofMoringaleafmealespeciallyintreatments4,5and6.Feed#8211;relatedmortalitywasnotrecordedduringthefeedingtrial.ThestudyrevealedthatMoringaoleiferaleafmealmaybeincludedinthedietsofClariasgariepinusatinclusionlevelsofupto10%replacementoffishmealthereforereducingthecostoffishmealinaqufeed.Therefore,MoringaoleiferaleafmealmaybeusedtopartiallyreplacetheexpensivefishmealinthedietsofClariasgariepinus.