Effects of dietary alginic acid on growth and haemato-İmmunological responses of cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822) fingerlings

Abstract

A 60 days feeding trial was conducted to study the effects of dietary alginic acid (AA) on growth and haemato-immunological responses in Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings. One hundred eighty fingerlings were randomly distributed into five treatments in triplicates. Five diets were prepared with graded level of alginic acid and were designated as: control (Basal feed + 0% AA), T1 (Basal feed + 0.2% AA), T2 (Basal feed + 0.4% AA), T3 (Basal feed + 0.6% AA) and T4 (Basal feed + 0.8% AA). Higher weight gain % and specific growth rate (SGR) were observed in T2 group. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) value was found significantly lower in T2 group. Total leucocytes and erythrocytes counts were significantly (P<0.05) increased in T2 group. Highest (P<0.05) haemoglobin content was observed in T2. Higher (P<0.05) serum protein, albumin and globulin were manifested in T2. Albumin/globulin ratio was lowest in T2 group. Higher respiratory burst activity (NBT) was observed in T3. Highest activity of catalase and super oxide dismutase (SOD) were manifested in T2. Lowest lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activities reported in T2. Overall findings suggested that alginic acid at 0.4% dietary level augments growth and haemato-immunological responses in C. mrigala fingerlings.