Comparison of dietary butyric acid supplementation effect on growth performance and body composition of Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings

This study was conducted using butyric acid as a growth enhancer in the diets of Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus. C. gariepinus (۴۲.۳۹ g±۱.۱۷) were fed diets containing varying inclusion levels of butyric acid (BA); ۰ (CG۱), ۰.۵ (CG۲), ۱.۰ (CG۳), ۱.۵ (CG۴), ۲.۰ (CG۵) g kg -۱, where, CG۱ is the control or reference diet. O. niloticus (۲۵.۵۰ g±۰.۵۰) were also fed diets containing varying inclusion levels of butyric acid; ۰ (ON۱), ۰.۵ (ON۲), ۱.۰ (ON۳), ۱.۵ (ON۴), ۲.۰ (ON۵) g kg -۱, where, ON۱ is the control or reference diet. Diets for C. gariepinus contained ۴۰ % while those of O. niloticus had ۳۵ % crude protein. Fish were fed to satiation twice daily in two equal portions for ۱۲ weeks. At the end of the experiment C. gariepinus fed on diet CG۵ (۲ g kg-۱ BA) had an improved growth of over ۶۰۰ % while O. niloticus fed diet ON۴ (۱.۵ g kg-۱ BA) showed over ۴۰۰ % improvement in growth when compared with those fed the control or reference diets. The highest carcass protein were also obtained in those fed BA diets when compared with their respective control diets. The results of the present study showed that there was better nutrient utilization in C. gariepinus and O. niloticus fed BA supplemented diets. Furthermore, there were no significant variations in the survival of fish fed BA diets when compared with their controls except for those fed ON۴ which showed ۱۰۰ % survival. Quality of water parameters were within the acceptable limits for the culture of fin fishes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Butyric acid ، Growth enhancer ، Clarias gariepinus ، Oreochromis niloticus ، Survival