Evaluation of Fresh Azolla pinnata as a Low-Cost Supplemental Feed for Thai Silver Barb Barbonymus gonionotus

Abstract

Aquatic fern Azolla pinnata comprises significant high food value with a good proportion of protein, vitamins, and minerals. This study was carried out to examine the effect of fresh A. pinnata as a substitution of commercial fish feed (CFF) for Thai silver barb Barbonymus gonionotus. Post fingerlings of B. gonionotus were reared in five treatments, labeled T 1 to T 5 , by substituting 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% protein of CFF with A. pinnata protein (dry matter basis) respectively for 56 days. The specific growth rate, net production rate, protein efficiency ratio, proximate composition, and overall conditions of fish were not significantly varied between the fish reared completely with CFF and 25% substitution with A. pinnata. However, a significantly higher profit rate (431.49 USD ha −1 56 day −1 ) was calculated for fish reared in T 2 than other treatments. In contrast, there was a significant reduction of growth and other parameters of the fish that were observed in the case where more than 25% CFF was substituted with A. pinnata. The poorest performance was observed in fish fed completely with A. pinnata, at T 5 . Based on the results, 25% of CFF of Thai silver barb could be substituted with fresh A. pinnata without significantly lowering their growth and product quality and could contribute significant to a higher profit margin.

Choosing floating macrophytes for ecological intensification of small-scale fish farming in tropical areas: a methodological approach

“…Conversely, Azolla and Lemna, which led to similar scores in our study, appear particularly well adapted for the partial substitution of fish feed. This is in agreement with previous studies showing the interest of those macrophytes as fish feed (Velásquez, 2016;Asimi et al, 2018;Das et al, 2018). Considering the limited impacts of macrophytes on water quality in our experimental pond conditions and commercial fish feed cost, the partial substitution of fish feed by macrophytes co-produced in situ would be a promising way to enhance sustainability of small scale fish farming.…”

A Review on Significance of Azolla Meal as a Protein Plant Source in Finfish Culture

“…It has good palatability, high yield potential, and very large market demand [63,64]. Das et al [65] reported that, the highest average weight gain (AWG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were observed in fish fed at T1 (0% Azolla) compared to other treatments. However, the general growth and production performance of fish was higher in T2 (25% Azolla) and was gradually decreased with the increase in the levels of supplementary A. pinnata.…”

Short Communication: Diversity of duckweed (Araceae-Lemnoideae), morphological characteristics and its potentials as food sources for herbivorous fishes in West Java, Indonesia

“…4.4 **) Alanine 27.80 *) 5.4 **) Aspartic acid 8.77 *) 7.8 **) Glutamic acid 23.13 *) 9.6 **) Glycine 1.76 *) 4.3 **) Proline 0.01 *) 3.5 **) Serine 2.03 *) 4.1 **) Tyrosine 1.69 *) 3.1 **) Sources: Rusoff et al (1980), *) Morales (2018), **) Compeer and de Best (2018) Aquatic plants are one of the sources of vegetable protein which is widely used in fish farming especially of herbivorous fishes. The use of various aquatic plants such as giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) (Mcintosh et al 2003;Bosire et al 2008), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) (Yudhitstira et al 2015), duckweed fern (Azolla pinnata) (Gangadhar et al 2015;Das et al 2018) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) (Sotolu and Sule 2011;Mohapatra et al 2015;Hontiveros and Serrano 2015;) as a source of fish feed have been extensively studied. Duckweeds have a great potential to be developed in aquaculture industry.…”