Introduction: Exploration of alternative plant protein sources for their prospect as potential replacements for fish meal has been intensified in recent times and Moringa oleifera (Lam) has been identified as one of such prospective candidates (Nsofor et al ., 2012). However, the elimination of undesirable anti-nutritional substances from plant protein sources is imperative to improve their nutritional quality and maximize their full potential as components in fish feed.
Methodology: The trial took place at the Teaching and Research Fish Farm within the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture at Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto located on latitude 13 0 07’ 47.6’’N , longitude 05 0 12’11.3’’E and altitude 275m above sea level (Google MAP, 2015). Five experimental diets were formulated, and fishmeal was replaced with the processed (B90min/S72hrs) Moringa oleifera seed meal at 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80% inclusion levels and fed to the fingerlings for twelve weeks. Fish growth, feed conversion and nutrient utilization indices were determined.
Results: Highest weight gain (12.77±1.14g) was recorded in the fish with diet T1 which is the control diet but, the difference was not significant from dietary treatment T2 with 20% MSM replacement level. Lowest FCR was recorded with fish fed diet T2 and t here was no statistically significant difference in the PERs of all the treatments.
Discussion and Conclusion: Diet with 20% substitution level that contributed 8.33% by gross composition enhanced good growth, and the fingerlings were still healthy at 80% substitution level. The findings of the feeding experiment revealed a similar (p> 0.05) survival rate across the treatments. However, the growth response decreased with increased inclusion level of the test ingredient MSM in the diets.