Growth Performance of the Monsoon River Prawn Macrobrachium malcolmsonii on Formulated Feeds with Combinations of Pulses and Cereals along with Groundnut Oilcake and Soya Meal

This study was conducted to categorize the growth performance of feeds formulated with combinations of pulses and cereals (horse gram and ragi, green gram and pearl millet, and cow gram and wheat) along with groundnut oilcake and soya meal on the post larvae (PL) of the monsoon river prawn, Macrobrachium malcolmsonii. This is to promote the inland aquaculture of this economically important species. Two types of feeds with different proportions of pulse and cereal (type-A: 25% pulse + 25% cereal; type-B: 40% pulse + 10% cereal) were prepared in each combination along with equal proportion of groundnut oil cake and soya meal (20% each). Tapioca flour (5%) and egg albumin (4%) were used as binding agents. Vitamin B-complex (1%) was also mixed. These feeds were fed to M. malcolmsonii PL for a period of 45 days. The efficacy of these feeds on growth performance and biochemical constituents were assessed. Commercially available standard Scampi feed was served as control. The overall influence of these feeds on growth, and concentrations of total protein, amino acid, carbohydrate and lipid of PL were found to be the best in scampi feed followed by the feed rich in pulse (type-B) and the feed with equal proportion of pulses and cereals (type-A). Among three combinations of pulses and cereals were tested, the feed formulated with cow gram and wheat showed the best overall performance, followed by green gram and pearl millet, and horse gram and ragi.  All the results were confirmed through paired sample t-test, DMRT, and two-way ANOVA. The survival rate was found to be better in formulated feeds fed PL when compared with control. It is assumed that the additive/ preservative added in the commercially available scampi feed may be the reason for the lower survival rate recorded. Moreover, the commercially available scampi feed is not always affordable to small farmers. Therefore, the farm made feeds with locally available commodities of pulses and cereals can be prepared and used in a sustainable manner for healthy promotion of Macrobrachium culture

Influence of combined probiotics Lactobacillus sporogenes and Bacillus subtilis on survival, growth, biochemical changes and energy utilization performance of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879) post larvae

A 90-day feeding experiment was studied to determine the influence of the bacterial combination Lactobacillus sporogenes and Bacillus subtilis (LS+BS) on survival, growth, biochemical constituents and energy utilization performance of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae (PL). Experimental diets were the same, except for the variation in probiotic levels. The probiotics LS+BS (4:3) were used at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% inclusion rates in the experimental diets. After the feeding trail, the growth parameters of the PLs, such as survival, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and protein efficiency rate were significantly (P<0.05) higher in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet as compared with control. The food conversion ratio was significantly (P<0.05) lower in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet. The biochemical composition of the total protein, amino acid, carbohydrate and lipid ash content were significantly (P<0.05) higher in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet. However, insignificant difference was recorded in moisture content between control and experimental groups. The energy utilization parameters, such as feeding rate, absorption rate, conversion rate and metabolic rate were significantly (P<0.05) higher in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet fed PL.  These results revealed the benefits of the incorporation of the probiotic (LS+BS) in aqua feed for M. rosenbergii PL.&nbsp

Efficacy of Cereals and Pulses as Feeds for the Post-larvae of the Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii ï€

Two types of feeds were prepared using cereals (maize, bajra and Italian millet) and pulses (green gram, red gram and cow gram) respectively and fed to the post larvae of M. rosenbergii for a period of 60 days. The efficacy of these feeds on growth performance, biochemical constituents and energy utilization were assessed and compared with commercially available standard Scampi feed. Statistically insignificant differences were seen in weight gain, specific growth rate and conversion rate between control and experiments, and between experiments. However, significant differences (

Influence of combined probiotics Lactobacillus sporogenes and Bacillus subtilis on survival, growth, biochemical changes and energy utilization performance of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879) post larvae

A 90-day feeding experiment was studied to determine the influence of the bacterial combination Lactobacillus sporogenes and Bacillus subtilis (LS+BS) on survival, growth, biochemical constituents and energy utilization performance of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae (PL). Experimental diets were the same, except for the variation in probiotic levels. The probiotics LS+BS (4:3) were used at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% inclusion rates in the experimental diets. After the feeding trail, the growth parameters of the PLs, such as survival, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and protein efficiency rate were significantly (P<0.05) higher in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet as compared with control. The food conversion ratio was significantly (P<0.05) lower in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet. The biochemical composition of the total protein, amino acid, carbohydrate and lipid ash content were significantly (P<0.05) higher in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet. However, insignificant difference was recorded in moisture content between control and experimental groups. The energy utilization parameters, such as feeding rate, absorption rate, conversion rate and metabolic rate were significantly (P<0.05) higher in 4% LS+BS incorporated diet fed PL.  These results revealed the benefits of the incorporation of the probiotic (LS+BS) in aqua feed for M. rosenbergii PL

Replacement

The fishmeal replaced with Spirulina platensis, Chlorella vulgaris and Azolla pinnata and the formulated diet fed to Macrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae to assess the enhancement ability of non-enzymatic antioxidants (vitamin C and E), enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)) and lipid peroxidation (LPx) were analysed. In the present study, the S. platensis, C. vulgaris and A. pinnata inclusion diet fed groups had significant (P < 0.05) improvement in the levels of vitamins C and E in the hepatopancreas and muscle tissue. Among all the diets, the replacement materials in 50% incorporated feed fed groups showed better performance when compared with the control group in non-enzymatic antioxidant activity. The 50% fishmeal replacement (best performance) diet fed groups taken for enzymatic antioxidant study, in SOD, CAT and LPx showed no significant increases when compared with the control group. Hence, the present results revealed that the formulated feed enhanced the vitamins C and E, the result of decreased level of enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, CAT and LPx) revealed that these feeds are non-toxic and do not produce any stress to postlarvae. These ingredients can be used as an alternative protein source for sustainable Macrobrachium culture

Effect of Lactobacillus sporogenes on survival, growth, biochemical constituents and energy utilization of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae

The present study was conducted to investigate the optimization of probiotic, Lactobacillus sporogenes on survival, growth, biochemical constituents and energy utilization of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae (PL). Experimental diets were the same in all, except for the variation in probiotic levels. The probiotic L. sporogenes was used at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% inclusion in the experimental diets. These diets were fed to M. rosenbergii PL for a period of 90 days. The food index parameters, such as SR, WG, SGR, FCE and PER were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in 4% L. sporogenes incorporated diet fed PL, whereas the FCR was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in 4% L. sporogenes incorporated diet fed PL. This indicates the fact that this feed produced higher growth rate than that of other experimental diets. Similarly the proximate composition of the total protein, total free amino acid, total carbohydrate, and total lipid content was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in 4% L. sporogenes incorporated diet fed PL. However, insignificant differences were recorded in ash and moisture contents between control and experimental groups. Energy utilization parameters, such as feeding rate, absorption rate, conversion rate and excretory rate were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in 4% L. sporogenes incorporated diet fed PL. Statistically insignificant differences were recorded in metabolic rate between control and experimental groups. This indicates that there were no differences in energy loss between control and experimental groups. However, L. sporogenes incorporated diet fed PL produced better growth performance

Effects of dietary supplementation of fish and vegetable oils on the growth performance and muscle compositions of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

The present investigation was conducted to assess the suitability of three vegetable oils (sunflower oil, coconut oil and castor oil) as an alternative dietary lipid source for cod liver oil to culture Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae (PLs). The experimental feeds contained 40% protein with separately incorporated three vegetable oils and cod liver oil. The feeding trial was conducted on M. rosenbergii PL for 60 days. In the final day of the experimental period, the survival rate, weight gain, length gain, specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio of prawns showed no significance (P > 0.05) between sunflower oil and cod liver oil incorporated feed fed groups. The coconut oil and castor oil showed lower performance when compared with cod liver oil. The present result showed biochemical accumulation of total protein, amino acids, carbohydrate and lipid in experimental groups. Also there is no significant difference in ash and mineral (Na+ and K+) contents. Among the tested diets, the recorded growth rate and biochemical constituents of sunflower oil and cod liver oil incorporated feed fed groups were similar. The present results revealed that the sunflower oil was on par with cod liver oil. Hence, the sunflower oil can be incorporated in feed formulation for M. rosenbergii PL culture. It can be concluded that the coconut oil and castor oil are not ideal vegetable lipid source with these concentrations which produced lower performance in survival, growth and biochemical compositions of M. rosenbergii PL