Utilization of Canola Oil and Beef Fat Coated Commercial Diets by African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles

Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2008) 8 : 73-79 Utilization of Canola Oil and Beef Fat Coated Commercial Diets by African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles S. Appelbaum* and A. Jesu Arockia Raj The Bengis Centre for Desert Aquaculture The Albert Katz Department of Dryland Biotechnologies The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus 84990, Israel (Received August 04, 2007) ABSTRACT Appelbaum, S. and Raj, A.J.A. 2008. Utilization of canola oil and beef fat coated commercial diets by African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 8: 73-79. The objective of the present study was to investigate the utilization of canola oil and beef fat as lipid from different sources by African catfish Clarias gariepinus. The fish were fed plant oil (canola oil) and animal fat (beef fat) coated commercial extruded diets for 40 days. The catfish were reared in a fresh water flow through system (0.5 ml/min) at 30 C and 0.2 0.4 ppt temperature and salinity, respectively. The feed was coated with lipid sources at three different concentrations viz. 20% canola oil, 20% beef fat, and 10% canola oil plus 10% beef fat. The control diet was not sprayed with any lipid sources. Three replicates were maintained for each treatment. The fishes were fed to satiation, three times a day at 0900, 1300 and 1700 hrs. The highest specific growth rate (SGR; 1.33%d -1 ) and the best food conversion ratio (FCR; 0.94) were obtained when the fish were fed a 20% canola oil coated diet. Feeding this diet the survival was 86.6%. The SGR of juveniles fed 20% canola oil coated commercial diet was statistically significant (P<0.05) compared with the growth rate of juveniles fed 20% beef fat and 10% canola oil plus 10% beef fat coated commercial diets. Keywords: Canola oil, Beef fat, Lipid utilization, Clarias gariepinus. INTRODUCTION Lipids are important in fish diets as a source of energy (Lee and Sinnhuber 1972; Watanabe 1982; Sargent et al. 1989; Haniffa and Arockiaraj 1999; Haniffa et al., 2002; Arockiaraj et al., 2004), essential fatty acids, sterols, phospholipids (as carriers of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K) and pigments in lipid transport. In fish ration the natural lipid component is useful for diet formulation and is especially desirable *Reprint request: Dr. Samuel Appelbaum, Tel: +972-8-6596811; Fax: +972-8-6596810; E-mail: sappl@bgu.ac.il 73

Appelbaum and Arockia Raj in feeds of fry and fingerlings, which require high energy intake for rapid growth. The principal gross signs of essential fatty acid deficiency reported for various fish are dermal signs of fin rot, shock syndrome, myocarditis, reduced feed intake and growth rate and increased mortality (Castell et al., 1972; Takeuchi and Watanabe, 1977; Satoh et al., 1989). The reduction of protein percentage in feed formulation and the increase in the dietary lipid level to compensate the protein for energy not only increased fish growth, but also reduced the feed cost (Phillip et al., 1969; Sethuramalingam, 2001). Concerns about the overexploitation of marine resources for fish oil production have been widely expressed (Bell, 1998; De Silva, 1999; Naylor et al., 2000; De Silva, 2001), therefore, fish oil replacement in aqua feeds has recently been studied (Greene and Selivonchick, 1990; Craig and Gatlin, 1995; Guillou et al., 1995; Torstensen et al., 2000; Turchini et al., 2000; Gunasekera et al., 2002). Since the cost of fish oil is very high, the aquaculture industry needs to find alternate lipid sources for fish oil to incorporate in fish or prawn diets. The alternate source would be either from plant sources or from other animal sources, but it should not add to feed production costs. So as to find a fish oil replacement, the knowledge about other lipid sources seems necessary. Hence, the present study was included canola oil and beef fat as different sources of lipid in the diets of African catfish Clarias gariepinus. MATERIAL AND METHODS Experimental system Twelve rectangular plastic troughs (capacity 10 L) were used in the present study. Each tank was filled with de-chlorinated freshwater. The tanks were grouped into 4 separate systems. Each system consisted of three rearing tanks connected to a separate water-cleaning unit. The water-cleaning unit consisted of a 100-L tank filled with volcanic gravel and strongly aerated water acting as a biological filter. Water from the cleaning unit entered each rearing tank at the rate of 0.5 liter/ minute. 20 liters of water were renewed daily in each system. Continuous aeration was provided by a blower and diffused air stone in each of the rearing tanks allowing oxygen levels of > 4 ppm. The water temperature was maintained at 29±1ºC using thermostatically controlled glass heaters (Jagers, Germany). Every morning, before first feeding (09.00 h) water salinity (%), temperature (ºC) and water flow (L/min) were recorded. African catfish (C. garepinus) juveniles of a mean body weight of 5.04±1.29 g were collected from the total stock at The Bengis Centre for Desert Aquaculture, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and 30 fish were distributed randomly into each trough. The fish weight was recorded at 10 day intervals throughout the experiment to determine their growth rate. Experimental diets The commercial feed marketed by Zemach Feed Mills, Israel (size: 2 mm) was used as a control diet in the present observation. The proximate composition of 74

Fat sources in diet of African catfish diets is presented in Table 1. The non-oil coated control diet was sprayed with canola oil and beef fat at 3 different enrichments viz., 20% oil, 20% fat, and 10% oil plus 10% fat. The fish were fed 3 times daily at 0900, 1300 and 1700 hrs to apparent satiation. The feeding study was conducted for 40 days. Fish in system 1 were fed the control diet (Diet 1), system 2 fed with 20% canola oil coated diet (Diet 2), system 3 fed with 20% beef fat coated diet (Diet 3) and system 4 fed with 10% canola oil plus 10% beef fat coated diet (Diet 4). Growth, survival, feeding behavior and feeding rate were monitored and calculated as follows: survival (%) = [(no. of fish stocked - no. of mortalities)/ no. of fish stoked] x 100; total weight gain (g) = total final weight total initial weight; average weight gain (%) = [(final average weight initial average weight)/ initial average weight] x 100; specific growth rate (SGR; %d -1 ) = [(log e final average weight log e initial average weight)/ total duration of the experiment] x 100; feed conversion ratio (FCR) = dry weight of feed intake (g) / wet weight gain (g). Statistical analysis The growth data were subjected to mean, standard deviation, one-way ANOVA and Tukey s Multiple Range Test (Zar, 1984). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The average recording of water quality parameters is presented in Table 2. Water salinity ranged between 0.2 ppt and 0.4 ppt. A slight fluctuation was noted in Table 1. Proximate composition (%) of experimental diets Nutrients Diet 1 Diet 2 Diet 3 Diet 4 Moisture 10 20 17 18 Protein 35 35 35 35 Lipid 4 18 24 21 Ash 7 7 7 7 Fiber 6 6 6 6 Table 2. Average measurement of water quality parameters Parameters System 1 System 2 System 3 System 4 Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range Mean Range ±SD ±SD ±SD ±SD Salinity (%) 0.30 0.2 0.30 0.2 0.30 0.2 0.30 0.2 ±0.04 0.4 ±0.04 0.4 ±0.04 0.4 ±0.04 0.4 Temperature ( C) 30.0 26.1 29.9 26.1 29.8 26.2-29.9 26.1- ±1.4 31.8 ±1.4 31.3 ±1.4 31.5 ±1.4 31.5 75

Appelbaum and Arockia Raj the water temperature during the experiment and the mean water temperature was 30º C. During the initial 2 days of the experiment the fish exhibited stress and did not eat well. During this period the fish gathered in the corner of the container. The fish were attracted the feed but did not eat. Thereafter they appeared normal, but after 10 days of stocking they ate quickly and voraciously. The growth and survival of the catfish fed different diets is presented in Table 3. The fish readily accepted all the diets. The highest growth (P<0.05) was observed in the juveniles fed a 20% canola oil coated diet and the lowest in the juveniles fed a 20% beef fat coated diet. The best FCR was also observed in fish fed a 20% canola oil coated diet. The highest survival was observed in the juveniles fed the control diet and the lowest in the juveniles fed a 20% beef fat coated diet. According to De Silva and Anderson (1995) 10 20% lipid is suitable for the optimal growth of fish without resulting in any excessive fatty carcass. In the present observation also, the lowest growth was achieved in fish fed with either a 20% beef fat coated diet or a 10% canola oil plus 10% beef fat coated diet. This lower growth may be due to excess or high amounts of lipid, present in the diet unutilized by the fish. Fat and oil occurs naturally in feedstuffs and in fat deposits of most animals in the form of triglycerides and phospholipids. Few fats are in the form of mixed triglycerides. Since the fats are in the form of mixed triglycerides, the fish could not utilize or digest them properly, so this may also be one of the factors affecting growth rate. Lee and Sinnhuber (1972) reported that fish can utilize 20-35% of dry diet ingredients as lipid provided there is an adequate amount of choline, methionine Table 3. Growth, weight gain (g), average weight gain (%), specific growth rate (SGR %d -1 ), food conversion ratio (FCR) and survival (%) of Clarias sp fed different diets Growth performances Diet 1 Diet 2 Diet 3 Diet 4 Initial weight 5.04±1.29 5.04±1.29 5.04±1.29 5.04±1.29 After 10 feeding days 6.56±1.97 6.77±1.83 6.15±1.96 6.34±2.24 After 20 feeding days 9.22±2.37 9.62±2.47 7.90±2.93 8.86±2.86 After 30 feeding days 12.31±3.33 13.2±3.20 11.14±3.58 11.73±3.53 Final weight (end of 40 days) 16.03 a± 3.04 17.31 a± 3.76 14.53 b ±3.23 15.58 c ±3.44 Weight gain 10.99 12.27 9.49 10.54 Average weight gain 218.05 243.45 188.29 209.12 SGR 1.25 a 1.33 a 1.14 b 1.22 c FCR 1.04 0.94 1.45 1.56 Survival 90.0 86.6 80.0 86.6 a,b,c Means bearing similar alphabet did not significantly different at P<0.05. 76

Fat sources in diet of African catfish and tocopherol present in the ration. Utilization of fat in the diet improves the quality of flesh (Ellis and Reigh, 1991; Boonyaratpalin, 1991) and an excess amount of lipid in the diet produces fatty fish (Cowey and Sangent, 1972). Since fat has the distinct advantage of complete digestibility, it adds flavor and textural properties to the feed (Paulraj, 1993), and also serves as a useful component for diet formulations. Among the two tested lipid sources canola oil produced better results in terms of growth. Canola oil, a rapeseed oil low in glucosinolates and erucic acid, having an adequate content of the essential linoleic acid, is considered a useful ingredient in diets for cultured aquatic animals (Turchini et al., 2005; Hien et al., 2005), so much so that feeding low erucic acid rape-seed oil to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus x Oreochromis aureus) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) did not negatively affect growth, feed conversion or survival rate (Hartfiel et al., 1981; Dosanjh et al., 1988; Higgs et al., 1989; Greene and Selivonchick, 1990; Wiegand, 1993). The present observation confirmed that canola oil could be potentially an excellent alternative type of supplemental dietary lipid source for juvenile C. gariepinus. CONCLUSION The present findings showed that a 20% canola oil coating to commercial extruded catfish diet enhanced the growth rate of the African catfish C. gariepinus. The present findings also indicated that canola oil could be used as an alternate lipid source for fish oil in fish diet. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Bengis center for Desert Aquaculture, The Albert Katz Department of Dryland Biotechnology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel are gratefully acknowledged for providing the postdoctoral fellowship grant to the second author. Mr. Alan Wass and Mr. David Benzion are thanked for their technical help. REFERENCES Arockiaraj, A.J., Haniffa, M.A., Seetharaman, S. and Perumalsamy, P. 2004. Utilization of lipid as dietary energy source for fingerlings of Channa striatus. Malaysian Journal of Sciences 23: 1-5. Bell, J.G. 1998. Current aspects of lipid nutriton in fish farming. In: Biology of farmed fish (Eds. K.D. Black and A.D. Pickering), Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, UK, pp. 114-145. Boonyaratpalin, M. 1991. Nutritional studies on sea bass (Lates calcarifer). In: Fish Nutrition Research in Asia, Proceedings of the fourth Asian Fish Nutritional Workshop (Ed. S.S. De Silva), Asian Fisheries Society of Special Publication, Manilla, Philipines, pp. 33-44. Castell, J.D., Sinnhuber, R.O., Wales, J.H. and Lee, D.J. 1972. Essential fatty acids in the diet of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) growth, feed conversion and some gross deficiency symptoms. Journal of Nutition, 102: 77-86. 77

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