FEEDING STIMULATORY EFFECTS OF CYPERUS ROTUND US TUBER ON CIRRHINUS MRIGALA
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Abstract
Traditionally tubers of cyperus (Cyperus rotundus) and its extracts have
been used for alluring fish during harvesting in India. An experiment was
conducted to evaluate its feeding stimulatory activity and effect on the growth
of a commercially important freshwater fish, Cirrhinus mrigala. Three
isonitrogenous and isocaloric formulated diets viz. plant ingredient based
control and control supplemented with cyperus tuber (CS) at 1% and 5%
levels were fed to the fingerlings of mrigal, Cirrhinus mrigala (2.68 + 0.20 g)
for a period of 45 days. Th~ grq,wth performance and the activity of metabolic
enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase
(ALT), in liver, gill and muscle tissues of mrigal were stu!Hed during- every
15 days interval. Highest relative growth (72.28%) was obtained in the mrigal
fed with the diet containing 5% cyperus (5% CS), while the re!z~ti"~~e growths
were 66.18% and 43.40% for the fish fed with the 1% CS diet and control
respectively. The activities of AST and AL T were significantly higher (p<O.Ol)
in both 1% and 5% CS diets as compared to the control in all the tissues
studied. Higher aminotransferase activities were observed in the tissues of
5% CS group than in those of 1% CS group throughout the experimental
period. The observed higher enzymatic activity was concomitant with the
higher growth rate in fish. The results suggested that cyperus tuber
supplementation increased feed palatability and growth.
Key words: Feeding stimulants, Cyperus rotundus, Cirrhinus mrigala,
Aspartate aminotransferase, Alanine aminotransferase