Effect of acidification in a phytase sprayed sunflower meal based diet on growth and dietary nutrient digestibility performances of Labeo rohita Juveniles

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of citric acid supplementation on a diet consisting of sunflower meal as major protein source in l. rohita juveniles. three experimental diets were made by supplementing phytase at constant level (750 ftu/kg) while citric acid was added at the level of 0%,1% and 2% in the basal diet resulting in the formation of three experimental diets designated as sfm1,sfm2 and sfm3. chromic oxide (1%) was added as an inert marker to all experimental diets to measure the dietary nutrient digestibility. growth and digestibility performances of juveniles showed significant (p<0.05) responses against diet acidification. maximally improved (p<0.05) weight gain and feed conversion ratio were observed in sfm3 diet supplemented with 2% citric acid. likewise,maximum apparent dietary nutrient digestibility was also recorded in sfm3 diet. in conclusion,acidification of sunflower meal based diet with citric acid improved the growth performance and nutrient digestibility in l. rohita juveniles. further research is needed to investigate higher levels of acidification for any additional improvement in nutrient digestibility and growth performance. copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.