Tigernuts are tubers of a stem, which have been recognised
for their health benefits. They are high in fibre, proteins, and natural
sugars. Clarias gariepinus, the African catfish, is an omnivorous freshwater
fish which is a popular delicacy in Nigeria. It is a prominent culture species
because of its fast growth rate and resistance to diseases and stress factors
like over-stocking and poor water quality. The main objective of this study is
to evaluate the Effect of dietary inclusion levels of Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus
L.) on the Growth Performance of Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings. The growth
performance of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, fed with different
inclusion levels of processed tiger nut was studied for 168 days (24 weeks). A
total of 144 catfish fingerlings with 0.66±0.12 g mean weight and 3.45±0.24 cm
mean total length were collected from the University of Calabar Fish Farm,
Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Eighteen (18) rectangular plastic tanks
were used for this study. Tigernut seeds (Cyperus esculentus) were purchased in
Bogobiri, Calabar, Cross River State. The tiger nut seeds were sundried for
fourteen (14) days prior to milling to produce tigernut meal. The drying
process was done to reduce excess moisture so as to prevent unpleasant smell,
stale taste and growth of fungus, as well as to minimise the presence of
cyanogenic glycosides. The dried nuts were ground into fine powder and analysed
for proximate composition in the Department of Biochemistry, University of
Calabar. A Complete Randomised Block Design (CRBD) consisting of 18 treatments
was adopted for the study. Triplicate culture tanks in treated (L25-L100) and
control groups (L0 and Ac) were stocked with eight fingerlings per square
meter, respectively. Weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency
(FE) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of catfish in different treatments were
estimated. Five isonitrogenous diets were formulated to contain 0, 25, 50, 75
and 100% tiger nuts to replace an equal weight of fish meal. Commercial fish
feed (Coppens) was used as a control feed. All the diets were fed to the
catfish fingerlings in triplicate for 24 weeks. The results revealed that the
optimum requirement of tiger nut level in the formulation of practical diets
for improved growth of C. gariepinus was 25% having the highest mean weight
gain (42.3±0.68) and feed efficiency (23.50±0.18). Therefore, it is concluded
that tigernut is a good plant-based ingredient for aquaculture feed, and
tigernut meal could be incorporated in the C. gariepinus diet at a 25% level
without any negative effect on growth.
Author(s) Details
Opeh, Patience Bassey
Department of Mariculture and Marine Fishery Resources, Faculty of
Oceanography, University of Calabar, P.M.B. 1115, Calabar, Cross River State,
Nigeria.
Inyang-Etoh, Aniema
Paul
Fisheries and Aquaculture Unit, Institute of Oceanography, University of
Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
Edet, Theresa Arit
Fisheries and Aquaculture Unit, Institute of Oceanography, University of
Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/asti/v3/171
