Response of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), to Diets of Pigeon Pea, Cajanus cajan, Subjected to Different Processing Methods

Abstract

Raw undehulled pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan, seeds were processed by toasting, boiling, and soaking before milling to produce pigeon pea meals (PPMs). African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, were fed eight diets formulated with these meals at two dietary inclusion levels of 600 and 650 g/kg in combination with fish waste meal levels of 350 and 330 g/kg, respectively, to yield a protein and energy contents of 35.96 ± 2.1% dry matter and 18.04 ± 0.2 kJ/g. Fish (mean weight 0.46 g) were weighed and distributed to 24 experimental tanks (seven fish per tank). Triplicate fish groups were fed restricted ration (5% of biomass) per day in two portions for 56 d in static water. Results showed that fish groups fed raw PPM diets had low body weight gain (BWG), inferior specific growth rate (SGR), and high feed conversion ratio (FCR) when compared to other feeding groups. The hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, and red blood cell and white blood cell counts decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with raw PPM diets. Slight decrease also was recorded among groups fed diets of other processing methods when compared with initial fish. However, soaking for 16 h enhanced best fish BWG, SGR, FCR, and hematological values and can be recommended as a good processing method of PPM for African catfish diets.

Response of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus; (Burchell, 1822) to Diets of African Yam Bean, Sphenostylis stenocarpa Subjected to Two Processing Methods

“…Fermenting process improved crude protein and fat content of AYB while boiling decreased the crude protein and fat content. This is contrary to the report of Ogunji et al (2008b) that most proteins of plant origin are nutritionally improved by heat treatment. Osuigwe et al (2005) observed inferior performance of fish fed boiled Jack Beans Seed Meal (JBSM) relative to those fed the control diet.…”

“…ANFs are known to have negative effects on fish growth and general physiology. As such, the removal of ANFs using different processing methods is important to reduce the concentration of those factors (Ogunji et al, 2008b). This strengthens the position of Uwaegbute et al (2012) that quality of foodstuffs may be improved by processing.…”

“…Commenting on the importance of different processing methods for legumes, Mubarak (2005) posits that cooking improves the protein quality by either destroying or inactivating heat labile anti-nutritional factors. Removal of undesirable components is essential for the enhancement and effective utilization of plant nutrients in animal feed (Ogunji et al, 2008b). This also may have influenced the improved protein composition of the fish carcass and haematological values above the control in this study (Table 7 and 8).…”

“…The pelleted feed was sun dried to reduce moisture content. This was done to enhance quality and was stored in refrigerator until use (Ogunji et al, 2008b).…”

Nutritional profile of soakedCajanus cajan(L.) Millsp. and its utilization as partial replacement for soybean meal in the diet ofClarias gariepinus(Burchell, 1822) fingerlings

“…Most of these legumes are underutilized and of limited relevance in human nutrition (Osuigwe, 2003). Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) seed is one such legume currently underutilized in fish feed production (Ogunji, Osuigwe, Okogwu, & Uwadiegwu, 2008), despite being of good nutritional quality (Elegbede, 1998;FAO, 1982). One possible reason for their underutilization is the presence of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), such as trypsin inhibitors, haemaglutinin, and saponin (Francis, Makkar, & Becker, 2001;Grimaud, 1988).…”