Abstract
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2025.A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to assess the nutritional potential of cabbage and cauliflower waste (1:1) meal (CCM), in the diet of Labeo rohita fingerlings (15.18 ± 0.07 g and 7.05 ± 1.57 cm). At first, CCM was fermented with Aspergillus niger (FCCM) for seven days to include in the diet. An in vivo feeding trial was conducted using seven isonitrogenous (30% CP) and isoenergetic (15 MJ/kg) diets. The treatments were raw CCM at 20 and 30% inclusion (CCM20 and CCM30), raw CCM supplemented with exogenous enzymes at 0.1% inclusion (CCM20 + EE and CCM30 + EE) and FCCM at 20 and 30% inclusion (FCCM20 and FCCM30), along with the control (C) diet. Apparent digestibility coefficients of dry matter, crude protein and crude lipid were decreased in CCM20 and CCM30 and increased in CCM20 + EE and CCM30 + EE. FCCM20 and FCCM30 showed higher apparent digestibility coefficients. The growth and nutrient utilization parameters such as weight gain %, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), lipid efficiency ratio (LER) and apparent net protein utilization (ANPU) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in FCCM 20 group followed by FCCM30, CCM30 + EE and CCM20 + EE groups. Amylase and protease showed higher activity in fermented and enzyme supplemented groups, while AST and ALT activities were higher in the FCCM20 and FCCM30 groups. Lipase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activities were non-significant (p > 0.05). The results of the present study suggest that raw CCM can be used in aquafeed up to 20% inclusion, while enzyme supplementation or feeding of fermented CCM at 20 or 30% can enhance the growth in L. rohita fingerlings.
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