Abstract
A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Piper nigrum (black pepper) leaf extract on on the growth performance, proximate composition, hematological parameters, and immune response of Labeo rohita fingerlings with an average weight of 22.14 ± 0.98g. Aftrer acclimation for two weeks, fish (n=25) were randomly selected and placed in four glass aquaria (T0, T1, T2 and T3) at constant water temperature (30.0 ± 1.0 °C), pH (7.50 ± 0.5) and total hardness (200 ± 2.0 mgL,-1) for a period of 12 weeks, with three replicates each. Fish were fed with P. nigrum leaf extract supplemented feed @ 0.0%, 1.0%, 2.0% and 3.0% in T0, T1,T2 and T3, respectively. At the end of experiment, five fish were randomly selected from each aquaria for proximate composition, gut and skin microbial load, hematological parameters. Total proteins, albumins, and globulins were also recorded to evaluate immunological memory. The result revealed that fish in T2 showed better growth performance with an average weight gain of 56.11 ± 0.51 g. Thus, it had been concluded that Piper nigrum, a medicinal plant, can also be used to enhance the growth performance and immune response of Labeo rohita as attractive alternatives against antibiotics and vaccines and has shown no negative side effects on fish health as well as on its environment.
Highlights
Aquaculture is the widely growing sector of human food production in the world (Tidwell and Allan, 2001)
The obtained results of experimental trials can be classified as; physicochemical properties of water in each experimental tank, growth performances and its correlation with these water quality parameters, and the impact of different concentrations (0.0%, 1.0%, 2.0% and 3.0%) of dietary supplement black pepper leaf extracts on immunology, hematology and proximate composition of fish fillets raised in each experimental trial as mentioned below
The results matched to the present findings in a way that inclusion of black pepper leaf extract in diets improve significant growth during the first phase of the trials experimental fish fed with plants extract and control group have significant differences in weight gain showed that black pepper leaf extract is beneficial for fish growth
Summary
Aquaculture is the widely growing sector of human food production in the world (Tidwell and Allan, 2001). With prolonged use of all these antibiotics, many releases their residues in an aquatic environment that may later enter in fish body and usually produce a negative impact like decrease its nutritional quality, drug resistance, and suppress its immunity against certain diseases (FAO, 2002) This issue has raised the interest of most aquaculturists in the search for more safe dietary immunostimulants that can be used as an alternative to these antibiotics. Black pepper contains vitamin A, vitamin B1 and B2, vitamin C, and vitamin E which act as antioxidants and useful for better health because of the increase in the immune response in fish as well as its growth response (Chibuzor and Assumpta, 2014)
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