Abstract
Sixty days feeding trial was carried out to investigate the supplemental effects of dietary phytobiotic mixture composed of Spirulina platensis powder (SP) and Garlic powder (GP) on the growth performance, intestinal morphometry, and immune responses of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. A total of 240 cultured O. niloticus (41.4 ± 0.09 g) were randomly divided into four experimental groups (three replicate/group), fed on basal diets contain 0% (control), 1% (SP), 0.5% (GP), or a combination of both (SP + GP). Fish group fed on phytobiotic mixture showed significant improvements in its feed intake, live weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio (p<0.05), associated with a healthy gut, compared to non-supplemented control. Dietary supplementation of phytobiotics appeared to stimulate the humoral and cellular innate immunity. Fish group that were fed on phytobiotic mixture revealed up-regulation in some immune related genes; TNF-α and liver hepcidin as well as it exhibited the least cumulative mortality % upon A. hydrophila infection. So we can conclude that dietary supplementation of garlic and Spirulina have been improved the growth performance, gut health, immune status and disease resistance in Nile tilapia.
Highlights
Aquaculture production of Nile tilapia, O. niloticus has been increased significantly in Egypt and most tropical countries [1]
We examined the effect of diets supplemented with S. platensis (SP), Garlic (GP) or a mixture of both (SP + Garlic powder (GP)) on growth performance of O. niloticus (Table 3)
At the end of the feeding trial, fish supplemented with Spirulina platensis powder (SP), GP or SP+GP mixture grew significantly more than the control group
Summary
Aquaculture production of Nile tilapia, O. niloticus has been increased significantly in Egypt and most tropical countries [1]. There is an augmenting curiosity for application of innovative management strategies to improve the aquatic welfare and production of safe food [3] In this context, phytobiotics have recently attracted significant attention in aquaculture as they have various repertoire of active principles with very potent immunostimulant, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties [4,5]. Based on the nutraceutical properties of Spirulina urge, it was considered by the United Nations as the possible "best food for the future" or "Super food" [6] It contains highly digestible protein (60-70%) with all essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids such as γ-linolenic acid, vitamins, minerals and various photosynthetic pigments [7,8]. Previous studies suggested that bioactive constituents of S. platensis like phycocyanin, β-carotene, γ-linolenic acid and phenolic compounds give this type of macrophytes its powerful antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunostimulant, and resistance against diseases [14,15,16,17,18,19,20]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
