Evaluation of Aqueous Extracted Moringa Leaf Meal as a Protein Source for Nile Tilapia Juveniles

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate suitabi lity ofmor inga leaf meal (MLM) as an alternative source of protein for Oreochromis niloticus. MLM was soaked overnight in tap water at 1:1 w/v to remove saponins and other water soluble antinutritional factors (ANF). Soaking resulted in a decrease in MLM crude protein content from 34.9 to 31.1g 100-1g but no effect on saponins which remained at 1.2 g 100-1g. Digestibility trial showed that MLM had high digestibility for protein (89%) and energy (76.8%). Growth trial used five isonitro genous (30g 100-1g), i s ol ip idic ( 10g 100-1g) and isoe nergetic (18 kJ g-1 ) diet s in which ML M provided 15, 30, 45 and 60 g 100-1 of total dietary protein. This led to a significant decline (p < 0.(5) in feed intake (0.71, 0.56, 0.50, 0.45 and 0.40g fish-1 day-1), specific growth rate (2.73,2.18, 1.44, 1.44 and 0.97 % day-1) and an increase in feed conversion ratio (2.26, 3.11, 4.97, 4.34 and 7.27) respectively. This was largely due to the saponins and other antinutritional factors which affected palatability. Thus there is a need of developing more efficient technique of removing the antinutritional factors in MLM.

Key words: Antinutritional factors, orechromis niloticus, growth, feed utilisation, body composition.