Growth, haematology and serum biochemistry of african catfish clarias gariepinus fed diets containing mixture of processed moringa (moringa oleifera) leaf and kernel meal

The potential of blending soaked moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaf and fermented moringakernel as a substitute for fishmeal in the diet for Clarias gariepinus was investigated. Theleaves were soaked overnight while the seeds were defatted and subsequently fermentedwith Rhizopus stolonifer. Four approximately isonitrogenous (40 % crude protein) andiso-energetic (20 kJ/g) diets were formulated to contain graded levels (0, 20, 40 and 60%) of mixture (1:1) of soaked leaf and fermented kernel of moringa. The diets were fedto triplicates group of C. gariepinus (average weight, 8.87 ± 0.02 g) for 56 days. Growthperformance in terms of weight gain and specific growth rate in the group that receivedcontrol diet was significantly higher (p<0.05) than those that were reared on dietscontaining 40 and 60 % mixture of soaked moringa leaf and fermented kernel butstatistically similar (p>0.05) to the group fed with 20% of the mixture. The feedconversion ratio was statistically similar (p>0.05) in the control and dietary treatments.The haematological profile of the control group was similar (p>0.05) to all othertreatment groups in all the parameters examined; suggesting that there were nodeleterious health effects arising from incorporation of processed moringa leaf andkernel in the diets for C. gariepinus.Keywords: Clarias gariepinus, Moringa leaf and kernel, Growth performance, Nutrient utilizatio