article · Aquaculture Reports
A study evaluated the effects of incorporating Moringa oleifera leaf powder into the diet of juvenile mono-sex Nile tilapia over an eight-week trial. Diets containing zero, five, and ten percent moringa leaf powder were tested across three groups of fish. Fish fed a diet with five percent moringa leaf powder showed significant improvements in growth performance, achieving higher final body weights and better feed conversion ratios. In addition, fish receiving moringa-supplemented feeds had lower levels of serum cholesterol and triglycerides compared to those on the control diet. The enhanced growth corresponded with beneficial changes in gut structure, notably increased intestinal villus length, width, and spacing. These improvements were accompanied by increased expression of genes related to growth and lipid metabolism. The findings indicate that moringa leaf powder can serve as a dietary ingredient to boost growth and lower blood lipids in farmed Nile tilapia.
Fish farming operations require sustainable, cost-effective ingredients to improve yield and fish health without relying entirely on expensive conventional feeds. Demonstrating that moringa leaf powder improves feed conversion, strengthens gut structure for nutrient uptake, and modulates lipid metabolism highlights the viability of plant-based feed additives for farmed tilapia, supporting more efficient and sustainable aquaculture production.
This research provides applied and tested dietary data for aquafeed manufacturers and commercial tilapia producers. It indicates that integrating five percent moringa leaf powder into standard formulations could enhance growth and feed efficiency. Moving this toward practical commercial use would require verifying local ingredient availability, assessing raw material processing costs, and confirming performance under commercial farm conditions beyond the controlled tank setting.
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The current study aimed to assess the effect of the dietary inclusion of Moringa oleifera leaf on growth performance, serum lipid profile, and intestinal morphometric analysis along with relative mRNA levels of growth and lipid metabolism related genes in mono-sex Nile tilapia. A total of 180 mono-sex Nile tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus; average body weight, 27.98 ± 0.75 g) were used. Juvenile fish were randomly allocated into three groups with three replicates in each (20 fish/tank). For 8 weeks, groups 1, 2 and 3 were fed experimental diets containing 0%, 5%, and 10 % moringa leaf powder, respectively. We observed that the dietary inclusion of moringa leaf powder at 5 % significantly improved growth performance, evidenced by an increase in final body weight and improved feed conversion ratio. Moreover, lower serum cholesterol and triglycerides levels were reported in fish fed the moringa containing diet compared with those fed the basal diet (0% moringa). The increased body weight was accompanied with changes in intestinal morphometric parameters, including increased villus length and width as well as the inter-villus space. In addition, the improved growth performance and hypolipidemic effect following moringa leaf dietary inclusion were associated with a relative increase in mRNA levels of growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin like growth factor (IGF), lipoprotein Lipase (LPL), and fatty acid synthase (FAS). Hence, moringa leaf powder can be included in the Nile tilapia diet as an alternative feed ingredient to promote growth and induce a hypolipidemic effect.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.aqrep.2020.100422
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