Abstract
A total number of 135 Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) were used to study the effect of dietary supplementation with black cumin seed (Nigella sativa) on growth performance and some blood constituents. The fish were randomly divided into three treatment groups each of 45 fish, and each group was divided into 3 subgroups (15 fish / unit). These groups received N. sativa at 1% (T1) and 2% (T2) and control group (C) which fed on basal diet without N. sativa. Body weight and length were recorded biweekly all over the experimental period (12 weeks). Blood samples from each fish were collected to determine each of hemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV%), serum glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, and alkaline phosphatase. Ten fish were scarified to determine hepatosmatic index (HSI), spleen somatic index (SSI), and gonadosomatic index (GSI). Other ten fish were transported to wet laboratory and reared without oxygen supplementation to determine the resistance under oxygen deficiency. The results showed that there was insignificant increase in body weight, body weight gain, total length, and length increment in T2. Also, the hemoglobin increased insignificantly (P > 0.05) in T2 than the control. Moreover, the serum albumin improved insignificantly (P > 0.05) in T1 and T2 than the control. Serum alkaline phosphatase was significantly (P 0.05) decreased in T1 and increased insignificantly (P > 0.05) in T2 compared to the control. Also, the dietary 1 and 2 % N. sativa did not affect spleenosomatic index (SSI). The fish group which reared under oxygen deficiency exhibited remarkable decreased activity and increased random movement elicited by hypoxia changes in direction of swimming, while the fish groups fed diets with N. sativa showed slightly abnormal behavior changes. The mortality rates under oxygen deficiency were 100, 40 and 20% for control, T1 and T2, respectively. Under oxygen deficiency stress, the Hb and glucose did not differ between T1 and T2, while PCV% was increased significantly (P > 0.05) in T2 than that of T1; the same occurred (P 0.05) in HIS, SSI and GSI between treated groups with N. sativa and control ones. To conclude, the dietary supplementation with N. sativa at 1% and 2% displayed slight beneficial effects on growth performance and major effects on some blood constituents of O. niloticus.
Highlights
In the world, very important investments have been made in cultural fisheries to meet the protein needs for humans
Three experimental groups (45 fish each, 15/ subgroup) where distributed randomly as follow: 1 -The first group was considered as a control which fed on a basal diet (Table 1). 2 - The second group was fed on the basal diet supplemented with 1% Nigella Sativa. 3 - The third group was fed on the basal diet supplemented with 2% Nigella Sativa
At the eighth week the average body weight increased insignificantly (P > 0.05) for T2 only where it increased by 2.14 % as compared with control ones (Table 2)
Summary
Very important investments have been made in cultural fisheries to meet the protein needs for humans. Among a number of species of tilapia (FAO, 2018), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is most widely cultured in a diverse group of aquatic environments because of its fast growth, stress tolerance, and reproduction both in freshwater and saline water condition (Chervinski, 1982; Abdel-Fattah and El-Sayed, 2006; Gibtan et al 2008). Black cumin (N. sativa) have been used as enhancer for performance, growth and immune system of some fish species (Abdel-Ghaffar et al, 2003; Diab et al, 2008) where the nutritional content is as follows: 20.8% raw protein, 3.7% raw cinder, 7.0% moisture, 34.8% fat and 33.7% carbohydrates (Atta, 2003). The main objective of this experiment, is to evaluate the effect of N. sativa on growth performance, some blood variables, in addition to immunity under oxygen deficiency in Nile tilapia (O. niloticus)
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