Effect of Processed Sesamum indicum Seed Meal on the Growth Performance of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Sesamum indicum is a tiny, flat, oval-shaped seed cultivated due to its culinary and nutritional value for thousands of years. Fish feed is the single most expensive factor in aquaculture production due to inflated prices and unavailability of fishmeal. The effect of processed Sesamum indicum seed meal on the growth performance of Clarias gariepinus was evaluated for ten weeks of feeding trials. The seeds were sourced from the station market, Kaduna State and taken to the Department of Biological Sciences, Kaduna State University, for identification and Authentication. Specimen number KASU/BSH/778 was assigned and documented. The seeds were washed, rinsed, air dried for 7 days and pulverised to obtain Sesamum indicum seed meal (SISM) used to replace fishmeal at 10% and 20% inclusion levels. Two formulated diets and a commercial feed (control) were used in the experiment labelled T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Mixed sexes of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings of average weight of 7.33±2.08 were used. Nine rubber tanks (25-liter capacity) were used at a 10-fish-per-tank stocking density, with three replications. Feeding was twice in the morning and evening at 5% body weight. The control (commercial feed) and the experimental diets fed with 20% inclusions of SISM recorded the highest weights of 24.3±1.40 and 23.9±3.17, respectively. However, there is a significant difference between the controls and the experimental diets at p-value (<0.05). The study shows that processed SISM can be incorporated into Catfish diets without adversely affecting their performance.