EFFECTS OF RAW AND DIFFERENTLY PROCESSED Mucuna pruriens SEED DIETS ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF Cyprinus carpio FINGERLINGS

Abstract

The dietary effects of raw and differently processed Mucuna pruriens seed diets on growth and haematology of C. carpio fingerlings was investigated. The Mucuna seeds were boiled with distilled water (DW), fresh tamarind pulp extract (TP) and maize cob ash solution (MCA) for 60 minutes. The raw (RM) and resulting meals from the differently processed Mucuna seeds were included at 20% substitution of soya bean meal in 4 (four) treatment diets designated RMD, DWD, TPD and MCD respectively, while a reference diet with no mucuna served as the control diet (NMD). The experimental set up consisted of 15 (fifteen) 40 x 30 x 25cm rectangular plastic tanks (15L capacity) in a static and aerated water system in an indoor hatchery. The treatment diets and control were fed in triplicate groups to C. carpio fingerlings (average weight, 15.40g) for 56 days in a completely randomized design. Data obtained was subjected to analysis of variance at α 0.05. Results obtained showed that growth performance and feed utilization indices were lowest for fish fed RMD diet. The MCD diet gave the best growth indices thus considered the most appropriate processing method of Mucuna pruriens seeds for dietary inclusion in the feeding of C. carpio fingerlings.