Dietary Aloe barbadensis miller supplementation enhances growth performance in Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53992/njns.v11i3.350Keywords:
Cirrhinus mrigala, A. barbadensis, WG, FCR, SGRAbstract
Aquaculture faces challenges due to slow growth, high mortality, disease outbreak and poor meat quality. Aloe barbadensis Miller (Aloe vera), a natural and sustainable plant based ingredients due to its immune stimulatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and growth enhancing properties can help to address these issues. This research was conducted to examine the effects of A. barbadensis supplemented feed on growth performance of Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings. The present research was conducted at Fisheries Research Farm, Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Before experiment, fingerlings of Mrigala Carp were acclimatized and then divided into four experimental groups each with three replicates, respectively. The fingerlings were fed 3% of their body weight for 45 days. Four experimental diets were formulated as: T0 (control group), T1 (500mg/kg A. vera extract), T2 (1000mg/kg A. vera extract) and T3 (2000mg/kg A. barbadensis extract. The experimental design of this study was completely randomized design (CRD) using Tukey’s HSD post hoc test for comparing treatment means. The results revealed significant differences between treatments. Growth parameters in terms of body weight (g), body length (cm), SGR (%) and FCR (%) were measured on weekly basis. T1 showed the highest weight gain (1.39g), length gain (1.36cm) and SGR (2.18%) with the lowest FCR (0.90). Maximum survival rate recorded in T1 and T2 (100%) followed by T0 (80%) and T3 (90%). Physico-chemical parameters i.e., temperature, DO and pH were recorded on weekly basis. The results revealed A. vera supplemented feed, particularly 500 mg/kg inclusion, significantly improved growth performance of Cirrhinus mrigala without any adverse effect.
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