EFFECT OF SPINACH (SPINACIA OLERACEA) LEAVES POWDER AND VITAMIN E ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND NON- SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE OF NILE TILAPIA (OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS)

EFFECT OF SPINACH (SPINACIA OLERACEA) LEAVES POWDER AND VITAMIN E ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND NON- SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE OF NILE TILAPIA
(OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS)

Hala F. Ayoub¹ and Doaa K. Khames²

¹Fish health and management department, Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt..

²Nutrition department, Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Spinach leaves powder, vitamin E and their mixture on non-specific immunity and the growth performance of Oreochromis
niloticus. A total of 180 apparently healthy O. niloticus were randomly divided into four equal groups. Fish fed on a basal diet with no additive and served as the control group (T1), fish fed a basal diet supplemented with spinach 1% (T2), fish fed a basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg vitamin E (T3) and fish fed a basal diet with their mixture (T4) for consecutive 12 weeks. Growth performance parameters and the body composition of the tested fish were examined. After the end of the experimental period, blood was sampled for determination of total proteins, serum Superoxide Dismutase enzyme (SOD) and serum lysozyme activity. All fish groups were then challenged intraperitoneally with a live virulent strain of Aeromonas hydrophila and the Relative percent of survival (RPS) were evaluated. The results revealed a significant difference was observed in the growth performance of O. niloticus within the treated groups when compared to the control group. The best results of growth performance and feed utilization were obtained in spinach and mixture diet groups .It was found that both Spinach and Vitamin E caused a substantial improvement of serum protein profile, lysozyme activity, Hematocrit percent, and SOD enzyme. Additionally, they caused reduction in the mortality in all groups compared to control one. It can be concluded that the incorporation of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and vitamin E mixture in the diets of Nile tilapia can improve growth performance and non-specific immune response toward the emerging diseases.

Keywords:
Medicinal herbs. Spinach. Spinacia oleracea. Nile tilapia. Growth performance. Non – specific immunity. Aeromonas hydrophila.