Effect of dietary probiotic improval (Lactobacillus sporogenes and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on growth and feed utilization of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae

An investigation was carried out to determine the effect of adding probiotic ‘Improval’, containing bacteria Lactobacillus sporogenes and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as growth promoters, in the diet of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) during the post larval stage of growth. Post larvae (n=450; 0.38±0.02 g mean weight) were divided into five experimental groups each with three replicates. The experiment was conducted for 60 days. Control diet (CD) had no Improval, diet 1 (D1), 2 (D2), 3 (D3) and 4 (D4) contained 2, 4, 6 and 8% Improval, respectively. Significantly (P<0.05) higher growth for final body weight (16.14±3.57 g), net body weight gain (15.76±3.24 g) and specific growth rate (7.50±0.38%bw day⁻¹) was recorded in groups of prawn fed diet containing 4% Improval (D2). In addition, the feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio in treatments receiving ‘Improval’ as growth promoters were significantly (P<0.05) better than those fed the control diet. The protein content of carcass showed the highest value for prawn fed diet D2 (65.3±2.21%) and the lowest was observed in D4 (58.9±2.5%). No significant differences were observed in lipid content among groups of prawn fed diet D1, D4 and CD, while the best and lowest values of lipid carcass were recorded for those fed on D2 (7.14±0.98%) and D3 (7.63±0.77%). The result suggests that the addition of probiotic ‘Improval’ as growth promoter in the diet @ 4% improved the growth performance of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post larvae.