Replacement value of elephant ear tree [<i>Enterolobium cyclocarpum</i> (Jacq.) Griseb.] Seed meal for soybean meal in the diets of African catfish (<i>Clarias gariepinus</i> Burchell: 1822) fingerlings

Abstract

An eight-week feeding trial was conducted in a partial flow through system to assess the nutritive value of raw Enterolobium cyclocarpum (RECSM) and autoclaved Enterolobium cyclocarpum (AECSM) seed meals as dietary protein replacement for Soya bean meal in practical diets for Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. Seven isonitrogenous (35% crude protein) diets with mean metabolizable energy (ME) of 363.72Kcal/100g were formulated in which mature RECSM and AECSM were used to replace soya bean meal each at three inclusion levels (15, 30 and 45%), namely, TD₁, TD₂, TD₃, TD₄, TD₅ and TD₆, respectively. The control diet was without the seed meals. Survival was generally high between 83 and 95%. Water quality was within the optimal range for cultured warm water fish species. Autoclaving resulted in increased crude protein (from 21.60 to 26.20%) and lipid (from 5.82 to 7.64%) contents and decreased crude fibre (from 11.53 to 8.20%). The best growth performance was recorded in the group fed test diet TD₁ (15% AECSM), while the least performance was recorded in the group fed TD₆; every other growth and nutrient utilization parameter followed this trend. Nutrient digestibility displayed progressive reduction with increase in inclusion levels of RECSM and AECSM. In view of its potentials in fish feed, further studies are necessary on techniques like dehulling for reducing the levels of crude fibre of the meal.