Effect Of Dietary Olive Pomace Oil And L-Carnitine On Growth And Chemical Composition Of African Catfish, Clarias Gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Abstract

The effects of dietary olive pomace oil and L-carnitine on growth performance, body indices and chemical composition of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, were investigated. A 3x2 factorial design was used by offering diets having three different energy/protein ratios and supplemental L-carnitine at either 0 or 2000 mg/kg diet. Ten juvenile African catfish (12 g/fish) were stocked into 80-l glass aquaria and fed an experimental diet for seven weeks. The L-carnitine supple- mentation did not affect body indices. However, growth and chemical composition were influ- enced by both dietary lipid and L-carnitine. The increase in muscle lipid was greater than in the liver for all treatments. Fish fed the high energy diet (9% olive pomace oil) had a low appetite and feed intake, while fish fed the low energy diet (3% olive pomace oil) and supplemental L- carnitine had better feed intake and growth. On the other hand, fish fed the high energy diet (9% olive pomace oil) with or without L-carnitine had better feed conversion.