EFFECT OF Lemna gibba AND Ulva lactuca ON HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IN JUVENILES OF NILE TILAPIA (Oreochromis niloticus)

Currently, mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) are added to the production costs of Nile tilapia to prevent and avoid diseases. An alternative are aquatic plants rich in biologically active compounds such as Lemna gibba, a freshwater macrophyte, and Ulva lactuca, a green seaweed, which have shown productive and economic efficiency as feed for livestock, poultry, and fish, but their effect as a functional ingredient has not been evaluated. The objective was to demonstrate that dietary supplementation of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with L. gibba and U. lactuca can have a beneficial effect on the health and productive performance of tilapia allowing to consider these supplements as functional ingredients such as mannanoligosaccharides (MOS). The base diet was supplemented with L. gibba and U. lactuca at percentages 0, 10, 15 and 20 % (L0, L10, L15, L20; U0, U10, U15, U20; M0, M10, M15, M20) and compared to a mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) control. Health parameters (hematological study, lysozyme and complement C3 activities) and productive performance (survival, S; final weight, FW; protein efficiency ratio, PER, and feed conversion factor, FCF) were evaluated. Statistical difference was found (p <= 0.05) among treatments and supplementation percentages. The U20 diet showed the greatest effect (p <= 0.05) on health parameters and L15 showed the best results (p <= 0.05) in productive performance. It is concluded that U. lactuca and L. gibba can be used as a functional ingredient at a proportion of 15 % to produce feed for Nile tilapia juveniles in order to promote health and growth.