Pineapple (Ananas comosus) Bran as a Sustainable Feed Additive for Improving Growth Performance of Clarias Jaensis, Endogenous Fish in Cameroon

Abstract

This study, which lasted approximately 60 days (from May to July 2024), aimed to evaluate the effect of pineapple bran as a feed additive on the growth characteristics of Clarias jaensis. To this end, 225 fry were randomly allocated to five treatment groups (T0, T1, T2, T3 and T4) which corresponded to pineapple bran supplementation levels of 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 1%, respectively. The fry were fed twice a day at 5% of the ichthyo biomass. Except for the K factor, pineapple bran significantly (P < 0.05) affected the growth characteristics. The highest survival rate (95.55 ± 0.00%), final weight (35.04 ± 0.94 g), weight gain (21.69 ± 0.94 g), daily weight gain (0.38 ± 0.01 g/d), specific growth rate (1.72 ± 0.04), feed consumption (27.92 ± 0.33 g) and the lowest feed conversion ratio (1.28 ± 0.34) were recorded with the T4 ration. Proximate analysis of the flesh showed that the presence of pineapple bran in the feed improved its nutritional quality of the flesh unlike the control treatment. The level of pineapple bran significantly affected the characteristics of the fish carcass except for organic matter and minerals. The highest dry matter (97.89 ± 0.10%) and crude protein (64.46 ± 0.07%) values were recorded with the T1 ration, while the highest fat (14.96 ± 0.03%) value was observed with the T3 ration. Additionally, the T4 treatment had the lowest feed cost of production. Therefore, supplementing pineapple bran at 1% in the Clarias jaensis feed is therefore recommended for better growth.