The effects of ginger powder (Zingiber officinale) on the growth, some of mucous immune ameters and hematological parameters in Caspian kutum Rutilus kutum (Kamensky, 1901) fingerlings

In the present study, the effects of different levels of dietary ginger powder (Zingiber officinale) on some of mucous immune parameters, hematological parameters and growth performance was investigated in Caspian Kutum (R. kutum) fingerlings. 420 individuals (mean weight: 3.69±1.60 g) were randomly distributed into12 tanks and fed with different levels of ginger [0(control), 1, 5 and 10 g/kg] for 8 weeks. Results showed that the highest mucus alkaline phosphatase activity, total protein levels and lysozyme activity were observed for the fish fed with the highest levels of ginger. The numbers of red and white blood cells (RBC and WBC), hematocrit (HCT) and hemoglobin (HB) were significantly different between treatments of ginger and the control fish. The highest number of lymphocytes was observed in fish fed with higher levels of ginger, whereas the lowest number in control group, indicating significant differences between the fish fed with ginger and control group fish in this regard. However, no significant difference was observed with regard to the number of monocytes and eosinophil between different treatments. Furthermore, the fish fed with dietary ginger showed improved growth performance compared to the control group, and the treatment fish fed with 10 g dietary ginger had the highest growth rate. Results of this study showed that the use of ginger causes increase in the activity of mucosalimmune parameters, hematological factors and growth performance compared to the control group.