HOME JOURNALS CONTACT

Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science

Year: 2014 | Volume: 9 | Issue: 5 | Page No.: 359-365
DOI: 10.3923/jfas.2014.359.365
Supplementation of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) Seed as Feed Additive in the Diets of Juvenile African Catfish (Burchell, 1822)
Akeem O. Sotolu, Alex A. Kigbu and Adegboyega J. Oshinowo

Abstract: The present study was conducted to examine utilization potential of Date Palm Seed (DPS) as feed additive in the diet of African catfish Clarias gariepinus for improved fed utilization. A total of 150 African catfish (weight ranged from 81.1-91.3 g) were divided into five experimental groups. The experiment was conducted for 70 days. Experimental diets were identical in all composition except for the variation in DPS inclusion level. Non-inclusion of DPS was used at 0% (control) and other levels are 0.5% (diet 2), 1.0% (diet 3), 1.5% (diet 4) and 2.0% (diet 5). Growth performance and nutrient utilization of African catfish including Weight Gain (WG), Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) and Protein Productive Value (PPV) were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of fish fed control diets, where DPS supplementation at 1.5% appears to be generally higher than other levels. In the same trend, fish fed diets with DPS supplementation produced improved fish carcass values and the haematology of fish was generally better from diets in all DPS fed fish. Overall production performance and subsequent fish quality assessments indicated that the diets containing 1.5% DPS level recorded the best performance in fish compared to other levels including the control diet. Based on the result of the present study, it is concluded that date palm seed supplementation positively influenced growth performance and feed utilization of African catfish as well as ensuring their healthy status.

Fulltext PDF Fulltext HTML

How to cite this article
Akeem O. Sotolu, Alex A. Kigbu and Adegboyega J. Oshinowo, 2014. Supplementation of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) Seed as Feed Additive in the Diets of Juvenile African Catfish (Burchell, 1822). Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 9: 359-365.

© Science Alert. All Rights Reserved