Influence of Lactobacillus plantarum supplemented diet on growth response, gut morphometry and microbial profile in gut of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the influence of dietary inclusions of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) on growth response, gut morphometry and intestinal microbial profile of Clarias gariepinus (C. gariepinus) fingerlings was carried out using a total of 150 C. gariepinus fingerlings (2.35 ± 0.48 g/fish) by selecting at random into five treatments groups of 10 fish in 3 three replicates each. Methods: L. plantarum isolated from corn slurry was cultured using standard measures. Five isonitrogenous diets were prepared at 35% crude protein (T0, T1, T2, T3 and T4) with L. plantarum at inclusion rate of 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% respectively. The fish were fed at 5% body weight per day for 12 weeks twice daily. Results: T4 recorded the highest mean weight gain and specific growth rate while the lowest was obtained in T1. T4 (1.97) when compared with other treatments had marginally lower feed conversion ratio. Absorptive area was most significantly higher in T3 and T4 group when compared to the control (T0) and other lower dietary probiotic inclusion groups. Cryptal depth was highest in T4 with significant difference which also gave the maximum enterobacteriaceae count while T0 recorded the least count. Conclusions: From these indications, L. plantarum fortified diets may enhance the growth of cultured C. gariepinus fingerlings at 2.0% inclusion rate as it was observed to improve body weight gain, feed conversion ratio with increment in the absorptive area and the microbial count in the gut.