Effect of Jerusalem Artichoke Powder Supplemented in Striped Catfish Larvae (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) Diet on Growth Performance, Digestive Enzyme Activities, Plasma Biochemical Parameters and Histopathology of Liver and Intestine

The objectives of the present study were to investigate the effects of Jerusalem artichoke powder supplemented in striped catfish larvae (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) diet. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with five treatments and three replicates: 0% (JA0; control diet), 0.5% (JA0.5), 1.0% (JA1.0), 1.5% (JA1.5) and 2.0% (JA2.0) of Jerusalem artichoke powder supplementation. Striped catfish (initial mean body weight = 4.24±0.10 g/fish) were fed experimental diet for 8 weeks. The results found that fish fed Jerusalem artichoke powder showed higher growth performance and feed utilization than control group. Moreover, fish fed JA2.0 showed the highest final weight, weight gain, average daily growth as well as lowest feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). However, survival rate showed no significant difference with all treatment groups with the value between 94.27 to 98.10%. Concerning plasma biochemical parameters, fish fed JA2.0 displayed the highest total protein and total Immunoglobulin (p<0.05). In addition, the fish fed Jerusalem artichoke powder showed higher digestive enzyme activities than control group (p<0.05). Liver and intestinal histopathology were investigated. The results showed that Jerusalem artichoke had no negative effect on liver histopathology. In addition, intestinal histopathology showed that fish fed JA1.5 and JA2.0 had the highest villi height (p<0.05) whereas fish that received JA1.0 and JA2.0 exhibited the highest villi width (p<0.05). This study indicates that supplementation with 2% Jerusalem artichoke powder is an optimal level to stimulate growth, enhance immune function, improve feed efficiency, and promote digestive enzyme activity.