Preliminary investigation of Tribulus terrestris (Linn. 1753) extracts as natural sex reversal agent in Oreochromis niloticus (Linn. 1758) larvae

Five pairs of brood stocks of Oreochromis niloticus (average weight of 350 ~c 25.8g) in a ratio of 1:1 male to female were used for the fry production to examine the prospect of utilization of safer and natural extract (Tribulus terrestris) as sex reversal agent in tilapia population control. Four hundred and fifty day-old fry were randomly distributed into 18 experimental tanks (30 litres capacity) representing five test diets (50% crude protein) containing varying inclusion levels of Tribulus terrestris extract at 0.0, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5g per 1kg of basal feed while diet six contain 50mg per 1kg of basal feed of 17-a-methyltestosterone (MT) served as the control diet. The growth performance parameter indices measured were Mean Weight Gain (MWG), Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) and Specific Growth Rate (SGR). At the end of the study, the survival rates and sex ratio were also measured and recorded. Data collected were subjected to 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) where significant means were tested using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at p = 0.05