ASSESSMENT OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE), GARLIC (ALLIUM SATIVUM), BLACKSEED (NIGELLA SATIVA), CLOVE (SYZYGIUM AROMATICUM) AND NUTMEG (MYRISTICA FRAGRANS) OILS ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, AND MORPHOMETRIC INDICES OF CLARIAS GARIEPINUS JUVENILES

Résumé

Medicinal plant extracts, have been demonstrated to be efficient to replace chemical additives or antibiotics, decreasing metabolic waste production, and improving fillet quality. Thus, plants extracts have been widely studied to discover their potential use in aquaculture. Thus, this study was carried out to determine effect of essential oils extracted from Zingiber officinale (ginger, ZO), Allium sativum (garlic, AS), Nigella sativa (Black seed, NS), Myristica fragrans (nutmeg, AF) and Syzygium aromaticum (clove, SA) on growth performance and morphometric indices of Clarias gariepinus juveniles. Two hundred and fifty (250) juveniles of Clarias gariepinus of average weight 17.05 ± 0.02g were used for the experiment with 20 fish per treatment, replicated twice and fed at 3% body weight. Effects of the therapeutic oils were assessed using growth performance such as weight gain, feed conversion ratio and production productive index and morphometric parameters (standard length, total length, height, dorsal width) for the period of 56 days. Results indicated that dietary
group T3 had the highest growth performance (30.34g) and survival rate (95%) among the treatments. Diets containing AS, SA, and MF oils had higher total length, standard length and heights when compared to the oil. The oils were observed to have positive effects on growth performance, and morphometric indices. By harnessing the benefits of these oils, fish farmers can improve the growth rates and reduce the reliance on synthetic additives and antibiotics, thus promoting environmentally friendly and health-conscious aquaculture practices.