Table 3.
Effects of dietary betaine on growth performance, feed utilization, and morphological indices of mandarin fish fed the HC diet.
| Parameter | Diets | NC vs. BET | NC vs. HC | HC vs. HC + BET | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC | BET | HC | HC + BET | ||||
| IBW 1 (g) | 23.58 ± 0.02 | 23.94 ± 0.14 | 23.75 ± 0.04 | 23.68 ± 0.10 | ns | ns | ns |
| FBW 2 (g) | 64.93 ± 4.71 | 87.67 ± 0.70 | 80.71 ± 3.12 | 100.43 ± 7.48 | * | ns | * |
| SGR 3 (%/d) | 1.81 ± 0.13 | 2.32 ± 0.02 | 2.18 ± 0.07 | 2.57 ± 0.13 | * | * | * |
| FE 4 (%) | 40.66 ± 3.37 | 48.32 ± 1.54 | 53.62 ± 3.89 | 68.33 ± 7.03 | ns | ns | ns |
| FR 5 (%BW/d) | 3.02 ± 0.28 | 2.80 ± 0.08 | 2.89 ± 0.29 | 2.61 ± 0.09 | ns | ns | ns |
| CF 6 (g/cm3) | 2.33 ± 0.13 | 2.52 ± 0.02 | 2.67 ± 0.07 | 2.64 ± 0.14 | ns | * | ns |
| HIS 7 (%) | 1.18 ± 0.06 | 1.30 ± 0.04 | 1.27 ± 0.02 | 1.33 ± 0.13 | ns | ns | ns |
| VSI 8 (%) | 8.49 ± 0.16 | 7.89 ± 0.46 | 8.36 ± 0.75 | 8.62 ± 0.62 | ns | ns | ns |
Data are expressed as mean ± SEM of three replicates (n = 3). Significant differences between groups are illustrated by * in the columns (p < 0.05). 1 IBW: initial body weight; 2 FBW: final body weight; 3 Specific growth rate (SGR, %/d) = [ln (final weight) − ln (initial weight)]/days × 100; 4 Feed efficiency (FE, %) = wet weight gain/dry feed intake; 5 Feeding rate (FR, %BW/d) = 100 × dry feed intake/(days × (FBW + IBW)/2); 6 Condition factor (CF, g/cm3) = body weight (g) × 100/body length (cm3); 7 Hepatosomatic index (HSI, %) = 100 × hepatopancreas weight (g)/body weight (g); 8 Viscerosomatic index (VSI, %) = 100 × visceral weight (g)/body weight (g).