Effect of dietary synbiotic on growth performance, body composition, digestive enzyme activity and gut microbiota in<i>Cirrhinus mrigala</i>(Ham.) fingerlings

Abstract

A feeding trial of 60 days was conducted to delineate the effect of dietary synbiotic on maximum growth, body composition, digestive enzyme activity and subsequently gut microbiota in Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings. One hundred and eighty acclimatized fingerlings of mrigal with initial body weight ranging from 2.87 ± 0.01 g to 3.26 ± 0.05 g were randomly distributed in three replicates of each of four experimental groups including control (without probiotic and prebiotic), T1 (high probiotic + low prebiotic), T2 (low probiotic + high prebiotic) and T3 (high probiotic + high prebiotic), using completely randomized design (CRD). Results showed that growth performance parameters, such as specific growth rate (SGR), per cent weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER), were reported to be higher in the T2 group followed by the T3 group. Maximum gut microbiota activity was found in the T3 group which was significantly different from other treatment groups. Similarly, body composition and digestive enzyme activity varied significantly (p < .05) among the treatment groups. The study showed the possibility of improved nutrient utilization in terms of growth performance and digestive enzyme activity in the group following dietary synbiotic supplementation.