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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 13, 2021
(Oreochromis sp.) were obtained from breeding ponds at Tilapia Breeding Centre,

Udawalawa, Sri Lanka. The fish fries were stoked in re-circulating water tanks and

allowed to acclimatize for one week. The fish were fed with control diet for 07 days,
prior to start the experiment. Randomly selected fish fries from the rearing tank were

weighed and transferred to the experimental tanks one week before starting the

experiment to acclimatize them to experimental conditions.

Four different diets were tested in triplicate, and the experiment set-up was
randomly assigned. Thirty red tilapia fries with an average initial Body Weight

(BW) 0.3052 ± 0.0086 g were introduced into the each treatment group. At the
beginning and end of the experiment, each acclimatized fish was individually

weighed using a digital scale and total length was measured using a measuring ruler.

Preparation of Experimental Diets.

The experimental diets were consisted of one control diet (C) and three test diets
(T1, T2, and T3). The control diet contained fish meal as the main crude protein (CP)

source. In the three test diets tested, 35% of the weight in control diet was replaced

by alternative medicinal plant ingredients.

The medicinal plants, Sesbania grandiflora (Kathurumurunga), Aegle marmelos
(Beli) and Allium sativum (Sudu loonu/ Garlic) were collected from Ambalangoda in

Galle district. The collected plant parts were washed with distilled water and air

dried under sun light. The dried medicinal plant parts were finely ground by using a
grinder. Grinded materials were sieved through a nylon sieve (100 µm) in order to

remove plant fibers. Soya bean, coconut meal and wheat flour were used as other
plant protein sources.

Selected medicinal plant ingredients and other protein-containing ingredients were

subjected to proximate analysis prior to feed formulation. Proximate protein
composition of medicinal plant ingredients and other ingredients. i.e., fish meal,

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