Abstract

The examination of the nutritional value of wild plant materials has garnered interest since they possess a noteworthy quantity of vital elements that may be utilized for human intake as well as in the creation of animal diets. This work evaluated the proximate profiles of Moringa oleifera plant parts and the utilization Moringa oleifera seed meal based diets on growth response of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus juvenile. Five experimental diets containing 40% crude protein were formulated in which moringa seed cake protein replaced soybeans meal at levels of 0% (control), 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. The only sources of protein in the control diet were soybean meal and fish meal. African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) juveniles stocked at 20 fishes/50litres of bowl were fed two times daily (i.e. morning and evening) at 6% of their body weight in duplicates for three months. Mean Weight Gain, Specific Growth Rate, Protein Efficiency Ratio, Mean Feed Intake, Feed Conversion Ratio and Profit indices and water parameters were determined using standard methods. The results demonstrated that the moringa seed has the highest crude protein and the fish fed 15% inclusion level of moringa seed meal has the highest specific growth rate and highest mean weight gain.