Growth performance, haematological assessment and chemical composition of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) fed different levels of Aloe vera extract as feed additives in a closed aquaculture system

Rukhsana Syed; Zubia Masood; Habib Ul Hassan; Wali Khan; Safia Mushtaq; Amjad Ali; Yasmeen Gul; Halima Jafari; Ahasan Habib; Muhammad Ishaq Ali Shah; Karim Gabol; Hina Gul; Asim Ullah

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.08.098

Growth performance, haematological assessment and chemical composition of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) fed different levels of Aloe vera extract as feed additives in a closed aquaculture system

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Jan;29(1):296-303. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.08.098. Epub 2021 Sep 6.

Authors

Rukhsana Syed¹, Zubia Masood¹, Habib Ul Hassan^{2

3}, Wali Khan⁴, Safia Mushtaq³, Amjad Ali⁵, Yasmeen Gul⁶, Halima Jafari⁷, Ahasan Habib⁸, Muhammad Ishaq Ali Shah⁹, Karim Gabol², Hina Gul¹, Asim Ullah¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Zoology, SBK Women University Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan.
² Department of Zoology, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
³ Fisheries Development Board, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Government of Pakistan, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Zoology, University of Malakand, KPK, Pakistan.
⁵ Center of Excellence in Marine Biology, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Zoology, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁷ A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, University of Karachi, Pakistan.
⁸ Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia.
⁹ Department of Chemistry Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan.
¹⁰ Faculty of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore Pakistan.

Abstract

A 105-day experimental trial was conducted to assess different levels of dietary Aleo vera extract supplementation on water quality parameters, proximate composition, growth performance and haematological parameters of fry Oreochromis niloticus. Four different percentages of dietary leaf extract powder of Aleo vera (ALE) with a basal feed, designated as, i.e., T0 (Control group; without ALE), T1 (1% ALE), T2 (2% ALE), and T3 (3% ALE). Fish fry was reared in concrete tanks (7.0 m, 1.6 m, 1.0: L, W, H; water volume 11.2 m3/tank), with an average initial weight 4.04 ± 0.03 g/ fry, and each treatment was triplicated. Fry was randomly distributed at a stocking rate of 450 individuals/ tanks. The water quality parameters revealed that temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO) and nitrates were found in a promising range as given by FAO/WHO limits. However, the record values obtained for Electric Conductivity (EC), Total dissolved solids (TDS), and alkalinities were not found in all tanks' suitable range according to FAO/WHO limits. The results revealed a significant impact of different percentages of dietary ALE supplementation on fry's body composition and haematological parameters. Moreover, the final body weight, final body length, average daily weight gain (g), net weight gain (g) and specific growth rate (%) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in T1 and T2 compared with T0 and T3 treatments. The poorest feed conversion ratio was recorded in the T2 group compared with other treatments. Thus, the current study provides information about the nutritional quality of Nile tilapia culturing in Pakistan.

Keywords: ADWG, Average Daily Weight Gain; ALE, Aloe vera; ANOVA, Analysis of Variance; DE, Digestible Energy; DM, Dry Matter; DP, Digestible Protein; EAA, Essential Amino Acid(s); EFA, Essential Fatty Acid; FA, Fatty Acid(s); FBL, Final Body Length; FBW, Final Body Weight; FCR, Feed Conversion Ratio; FM, Fish Meal; Growth performance; HSI, Hepatosomatic Index; IBL, Initial Body Length; IBW, Initial Body Weight; Immune response; K, Condition Factor; Leaf extract; PER, Protein Efficiency Ratio; PO, Crude Palm Oil; Proximate composition; RO, Rapeseed Oil; SGR, Specific Growth Rate; VO, Vegetable Oil(s); VSI, Viscerosomatic Index; WG, Weight Gain.