Growth Performance and Nutrient Utilisation of African Catfish, Clarias Gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) Fed Ginger Nanoparticles Supplemented Diets

This study evaluated the growth performance and nutrient utilisation of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fed ginger nanoparticles supplemented diets. Three hundred African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) post juveniles of 14.11g ± 0.08 were divided into five groups and fed ginger nanoparticles supplemented diets for 56 days. The control (T1) received feed without ginger, while four other groups received feed with increasing amounts of ginger nanoparticles: 0.05g (T2), 0.10g (T3), 0.15g (T4), and 0.20g (T5) per 100g of feed formulated. Water quality parameters were monitored and were within recommended levels for culture of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Growth performance parameters such as initial and final weights, weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR), and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were accessed after the feeding trials. The results showed significant improvements in growth performance with ginger nanoparticle supplementation. Fish in group T3 (0.10g) inclusion had the best growth performance with weight gain of 20.60g compared with 17.61g in the control group. The best FCR of 1.55 was recorded in group T3 (0.10g) inclusion compared with 2.05 recorded in control fish. The specific growth rate was 0.36% per day in T3 compared to 0.31% in control. Fish body composition also improved, with higher protein content (up to 67.20% in T5) compared to control (63.50%). T3 (0.10g ginger nanoparticles per 100g feed) is recommended as the optimal inclusion level. Therefore, the study shows that ginger nanoparticles supplementation improved the growth performance and nutrient utilisation in African catfish (Clarias gariepinus).