Effects of Boiled Fish (Silurus glanis, Heterotis niloticus, Cyprinus carpio and Oreochromis niloticus) Ingestion on the Growth of Young Male and Female Wistar Albino Rats

This work was focused on the determination of the in vivo nutritional value of some boiled freshwater fishes. Four freshwater fish species, collected in Batie (Division of the Western region of Cameroon) were boiled according to the method used in our households and then used for the composition of rats’ feed. Five iso-protein diets were prepared and used for the evaluation of growth parameters of young male and female Wistar albino rats. The effects of these diets on growth performance, as well as on feed intake and digestibility were determined. The serum lipid profile and some biochemical parameters were also obtained from these rats. The results showed that, feed intake of the experimental diets were similar to those of the positive control rats. The biometry of the bodies revealed a normal evolution except for those of the negative control diet which presented renal hypertrophies. Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) of rats that ate feed based on Heterotis niloticus was the best. The serum total cholesterol rates, HDL-Cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol and (LDL VLDL)-Cholesterol revealed some significant differences, in rats fed with diets based on Silurus glanis and Cyprinus carpioio whereas the others remained close to the values obtained with the positive control especially in females. These results make it possible to conclude that freshwater fish collected in the locality of Batie are of good nutritional quality.