Effect of Sargassum ilicifolium alcoholic extract on growth, feed, body composition and digestive enzymatic activities in Mugil cephalus

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of supplementation of algae Sargassum ilicifolium on the growth performances, feed indices, body composition and digestive enzymatic activities of grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) for 60 days. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 120 of grey mullet (with average weight of 11.77±1.07g) divided in 4 treatments and 3 replicates (n=10 in each replicate) and included: 0, 5, 10 and 15 g algal extract per Kg diet. The results showed that at the end of experiment, the highest final weight (FW), specific growth ratio (SGR) and protein efficiency rate (PER) were observed in treatment 4 (15g/Kg). The highest crude protein, moisture and amylase, lipase, protease activities the lowest crude lipid were observed in treatment 4. However no significant difference were observed in amylase activity, between 10 and 15g extract per Kg diet (P>0.05). Overall, the results of the experiment revealed that grey mullet fed with 15g S. ilicifolium per Kg diet showed better growth performance, feed utilization, body composition and digestive enzymatic activities than control group, and could suggest for grey mullet.