Abstract:

This study seeks to determine the nutritive potential of Moringa oleifera Leaf (MOL) meal as replacement for soybean meal in the diet of Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings. Five diets of 25% crude protein were formulated with MOL meal substituting soybeans (14.68 level of inclusion) at 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% and control diet had no inclusion of MOL. Twenty fingerlings were randomly allocated in replicate for each treatment in outdoor hapas and fed 5% body weight for a of 56 days, weighing was done weekly and feed adjusted appropriately. Results obtained revealed that 50% substitution of MOL meal for soybean meal gave the best growth and nutrient utilization, beyond this, growth significantly reduced, hence for better performance of O. niloticus, MOL should not be included more than 7.34%.

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