Influence of Ginger and Garlic Supplementation on Growth Performance, Whole Body Composition and Oxidative Stress in the Muscles of Nile Tilapia (O. Niloticus)

An experiment was conducted to determine the impact of using garlic and ginger powder on growth performance, body composition, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes activities in muscle tissues of Nile tilapia fingerlings. Three isonitrogenous (32%) and isocaloric (3000 kcal DE) diets were formulated , control basal diet, diet supplemented with 1.5% ginger powder, other diet supplemented with 1.5% garlic powder and fed to the fish for sixty days at 3% body weight. No significant effects were found in final body weight (FBW) between experimental groups of fish. Body weight gain (BWG) and specific growth rate (SGR) were significantly (p≤ 0.05) decreased in Nile tilapia fish fed diets supplemented with garlic and ginger powder compared to the control group. Also, there was improvement of feed conversion ratio (FCR) of Nile tilapia fish fed control basal diet compared with other experimental groups. No significant differences in proximate chemical composition of whole body of fish between experimental groups. Lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde, MDA) in muscle tissues of fish groups fed diets supplemented with ginger and garlic (1.5%), respectively, showed a significant (p≤ 0.05) decrease in MDA levels. Also, superoxide dismutase (SOD) was significantly (p≤ 0.05) increase in fish group fed diet supplemented with garlic compared with other experimental groups. No significant differences of Catalase (CAT) and reduced glutathione (GSH) of fish muscle of experimental groups. To sum up, adding garlic and ginger at 1.5% had no significant effect on Nile tilapia growth performance, body composition, while using of garlic as a feed additive significantly reduce lipid peroxidation and had antioxidant effect.