Abstract

EFFECTS OF FEEDING HIGHER LEVEL OF VITAMIN C LASCORBATE- 2-TRIPHOSPHATE CALCIUM (LATP) ON GROWTH AND HAEMATO-BIOCHEMICAL INDICES OF COMMON CARP (CYPRINUS CARPIO L)

Shyam Narayan Labh, Rina Chakrabarti and Femi J. Fawole

ABSTRACT

A 42 days feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding higher level of ascorbic acid (AA) on growth response and haematobiochemical indices of common carp, Cyprinus carpio. Four experimental diets supplemented with 0, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg kg-1 AA, designated as control, T1, T2, and T3, were formulated. The ascorbic acid was added as L-ascorbate-2-triphosphate-Ca (LATP) at the expense of wheat flour. Twelve rectangular concrete tanks were randomly stocked with 15 fish (initial average weight of 59 ± 0.56g) each per tank, in triplicate groups. A significantly (p<0.05) higher growth performance indices (FW, WG % & SGR) were recorded in fish fed LATP supplemented diets compared with the controls, while feed conversion ratio showed an opposite trend with the lowest value recorded in T3 fed group. No mortality was recorded through the experiment in all the groups. Fish fed LAT Pbased diets showed significantly higher Hb, RBC, WBC, Hct, total protein, albumin, and A/G ratio, compared with the lowest value recorded in the control. The activities of AST and ALT enzymes in the serum showed statistically higher value in the control group (p<0.05), but decreased with increasing concentration of ascorbic acid in the treatment groups. Conversely, ALP enzyme activities exhibited the opposite trend. The optimum requirement for maximal tissue storage of LATP in C. carpio was found to be 1355 mg kg-1, 1532 mg kg-1 and 1216.1 mg kg-1 for liver, muscle and kidney, respectively.

Keywords: Ascorbic acid, heamatology, metabolic enzymes, common carp.