ABSTRACT
Joshna, M., Ahilan, B., Uma, A., Chidambaram, P., Prabu, E. and Ruby, P. 2023. Effect of selenium nanoparticles fortified diet on the growth performance, hematological responses, whole-body composition, intestinal microflora and histological alterations of GIFT. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 23: 455- 468.
A 60-day, feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary selenium nanoparticles on growth and physiological responses of Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT). Four experimental diets were formulated by incorporating selenium nanoparticles at 0 (basal diet), 0.5, 0.75 and 1 mg/kg of diet. The experiment was conducted in triplicate. Trough (40 L capacity) was stocked with 20 fingerlings with an average body weight of 0.87±0.02 g. At the end of the experimental trial, growth performance and nutrient utilization, hemoglobin, red blood cells, hematocrit and lactic acid bacteria counts in intestine were significantly improved in fish fed selenium nanoparticles at 0.75 mg/kg of diet compared to control but no significant influence on the whole-body composition of GIFT tilapia was observed. The histopathological changes that occurred in the intestine and gills were mild fusion of villi, mild degeneration of surface epithelium in intestine, multifocal mild degeneration and necrosis of secondary gill lamellae at higher concentration. Second-order polynomial regression analysis clearly affirmed that the optimum dietary selenium nanoparticles supplementation concentration in the diet at 0.64 mg/kg level to increase the growth and physiological performance of GIFT.
Keywords: GIFT, Growth performance, Hematology, Histology, Selenium nanoparticles
*Corresponding author: rubyfcri@gmail.com