We investigated the effects of dietary enriched with Shilajit in three dose levels: 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0 g kg-1 in the basal diet on growth rate, non-specific immune response, and disease resistance for 60 days in Oreochromis mossambicus against an opportunist pathogen, Aeromonas hydrophila. The results showed that the Shilajit enriched diets at 4.0 and 6.0 g kg-1 diets significantly (p < 0.05) enhance survival rate, weight gain (WG), protein efficiency ratio (PER), specific growth rate (SGR), and feed efficiency (FE), whereas it significantly decrease the feed conversion ratio (FCR) from weeks 1-4 when compared with control. The innate immune parameters, such as the phagocytic, complement, respiratory burst, and lysosome activities in infected fish fed with all Shilajit enriched diet were significantly (p < 0.05) enhances on weeks 2-4. A very low cumulative mortality, 8.0% and 12.0% were observed in the infected fish fed with 4.0 and 6.0 g kg-1 Shilajit enriched diets, whereas 18% mortality was found with 2 g kg-1 diet. In conclusion, 4.0 and 6.0 g kg-1 Shilajit enriched diets significantly increased the growth performance, innate immune response, and disease resistance in O. mossambicus against A. hydrophila infection.
Keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila; Growth performance; Immune response; Oreochromis mossambicus; Shilajit.
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