Influence of diet composition, starvation and feeding frequency on gastric evacuation rates in Catla, Catla catla (Hamilton) fingerlings

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to evaluate he influence of protein source (fish-meal, soybean and casein), protein (30%.35% and 40%) and lipid (5%, 10% and 15%) levels in the diet, feeding frequency (1,2 and 3 meals/day) and starvation period (5, 10 and 15 days) on gut evacuation time in catla, Catla catla fingerlings. Casein-based diet emptied faster compared to soybean and fish-meal based diets. The food passage time varied between 9.14 and 10.55 hr for different protein levels in the diet. The gut evacuation time decreased as content of lipid increased in the diet and vice versa in feeding frequency. However, the effect of starvati on period on the evacuation time was insignificant.