Effects of feeding detoxified rubber seed meal on growth performance and haematological indices of Labeo rohita (Hamilton) fingerlings

• Published in: Animal feed science and technology 2014-07, Vol.193, p.84-92
• Main Authors: Sharma, B.B., Saha, R.K., Saha, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Detoxification; Feed; Growth; Haematology; Labeo rohita; Rubber seed meal
• ISSN: 0377-8401; 1873-2216
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2014.03.008

•Rubber seeds are the good source of protein, however they contain toxic substances.•Toxicants need to be removed to use it as an alternative source of dietary protein supplement in the aquafeed.•Economical ways of detoxification can remove 85% of the toxicant.•Up to 200g of detoxified rubber seed meal could be incorporated in 1kg diets of Labeo rohita fingerlings without compromising the growth response and health status in terms of haematological indices. A feeding trial was conducted for 60 days to study the effect of detoxified rubber seed meal as protein source in the diet of Labeo rohita fingerlings on growth performance and haematological indices. One hundred and eighty fingerlings (22.5±7.7g) were equally distributed in four experimental groups having three replicates each. The experiment was conducted in FRP tanks of 500L capacity each and temperature range was 22.6–28.5̊C. Four isoproteinous (329.9–323.1g/kg) and isocaloric (17.0–18.0MJ/kg) diets were prepared with detoxified rubber seed meal incorporated at the level of 0g/kg (control diet), 100g/kg (diet T1), 200g/kg (diet T2) and 300g/kg (diet T3) of diet. The growth parameters such as weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), specific growth rate (SGR) and survival rate were monitored in the study period. Blood samples were collected to determine the different haematological indices like total red blood cells count, white blood cells count, packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. The water quality parameters were maintained within the optimum range. Control, T1 and T2 group showed significantly (P