Fenugreek Supplementation in Hybrid African Catfish Diets: Effect on Growth Performance, Physio-Metabolic Response, and Antioxidant Enzyme Capacity

The impact of dietary fenugreek (FN) supplementation on growth performance, physio-metabolic enzyme response, and antioxidant enzyme activities in hybrid African catfish (Clarias gariepinus ♀ × Heterobranchus bidorsalis ♂) was investigated in this study. Five isonitrogenous diets (38% crude protein) were developed and fed to the fish for 60 days. The FN was incorporated into the diets at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2%. Two hundred twenty-five fingerlings of hybrid African catfish (average weight 4.01 g ± 0.02) were used for the study and randomly distributed to five dietary groups in triplicate. FN supplementation improved growth responses and survival rates; the dietary groups considerably (p < 0.05) outperformed the control group. FN-based diets considerably increased the carcass protein content (p = 0.020) and improved protein retention (p = 0.015). FN supplementation markedly (p < 0.001) and dose-dependently reduced the carcass’s lipid content and substantially (p < 0.001) increased the levels of metabolic enzymes. The fish antioxidant capacity was significantly enhanced (p < 0.001), and hepatic stress enzymes were greatly (p < 0.001) lowered in FN-based diets. In summary, the second-order polynomial regression analysis indicates that the optimal dose of FN supplementation to improve hybrid catfish growth without negatively affecting the fish’s physio-metabolic response or overall wellbeing is 1% dietary inclusion level.