Growth Response Of Clarias Gariepinus Fingerlings Fed Varying Diets Of cassava Peel Supplemente With Dl-methionine

ABSTRACT

 Five different diets were formulated to contain 0%, 20% and 40% cassava peels to replace equal weight of corn flour. Two additional treatment containing 20% and 40% of cassava peels supplemented with 0.2 crystalline DL-methionine to compensate for the methionine required for the detoxification of cyanogenic glycoside of cassava. The result revealed that fish on all treatment diets showed that growth due to increasing dietary cassava and methionine supplementation were not significant at P < 0.05. The supplementation of 0.2% DL-methionine improved the mean growth weight and length of the diet containing 20% cassava peel and 40% cassava. The inclusion of cassava peel based diet with 0.2 methionine supplementation was suggested as the best feed for Clarias gariepinus fingerlings in the experiment followed by 20% cassava peel without DL-methionine, and if the peel are properly processed, the cyanogenic glycoside of the cassava might be reduced to have a minimal effect on growth. This experiment lasted for 12 weeks and was carried out within the environment of fishery department of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.