Effect of dietary supplementation of sodium butyrate on growth performance and feed utilization of Nile tilapia (<em>Oreochromis niloticus</em>) fries

Abstract

Present study was to evaluate the effect of different levels of sodium butyrate as a feed additive on growth performance, feed utilization and body biochemical composition of <em>Oreochromis niloticus</em> fries. Five diets containing supplementation at levels of 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3% were fed to fries of Nile tilapia (1 g) at a daily rate of 20 % of their body weight during the first month, reduced to 15% in the last two weeks. Growth performance parameters increased significantly (P<0.05) with applying dietary sodium butyrate. The highest growth was obtained at 2% sodium butyrate level and the lowest feed conversion ratio was obtained at 2% and 3% levels. No effect was detected on the body composition by supplementing of sodium butyrate.