Dietary Alpha-Monolaurin for Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus): Stimulatory Effects on Growth, Immunohematological Indices, and Immune-Related Gene Expressions

Table 3

Growth performance and feed utilization of Nile tilapia fed different levels of alpha-monolaurin.

Items	Experimental treatments				±SE	value
	Control	2 g·kg^−1	4 g·kg^−1	6 g·kg^−1
Initial body weight (g fish^−1)	3.10	3.31	3.18	3.17	0.11	0.647
Final body weight (g fish^−1)	15.05^c	15.65^bc	17.2^ab	18.6^a	0.44	0.015
Weight gain (g fish^−1)	11.95^c	12.34^bc	14.01^ab	15.43^a	0.49	0.022
Specific growth rate (%day^−1)	2.63^ab	2.59^b	2.81^ab	2.94^a	0.07	0.099
Feed conversion ratio	1.650^a	1.45^b	1.35^b	1.25^c	0.05	0.019
Protein efficiency ratio	1.950^b	2.075^b	2.395^a	2.590^a	0.06	0.009
Fish survival (%)	97.50^c	98.30^b	99.00^a	100.00^a	1.26	0.006

Means followed by different superscripts in the same row are significantly different ( < 0.05). WG = final weight (g) − initial weight (g); specific growth rate (SGR) = lnW2 − lnW1/t (days); FCR = feed intake (g)/weight gain (g); protein efficiency ratio (PER) = weight gain (g)/protein ingested (g).