Nutritional, phytochemical and biochemical composition of (Moringa Oleifera) raw seed, seed cake, and leaf meal for Aquaculture feeds

Abstract

The study was conducted on the nutritional and biochemical composition of the Moringa oleifera plant (Seed, Seed Cake, and leaf meal) at two different locations. The proximate and mineral composition were carried out at the Central Laboratory of the National Institute for Fresh-water Fisheries Research (NIFFR), New Bussa, Niger State, while the Biochemical and phytochemical analyses were conducted at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. The result for the proximate composition of the M. oleifera plant revealed that the moisture content for the M. oleifera leaves sample (8.88 ± 0.39%) was significantly higher when compared with the M. oleifera seed (4.81 ± 0.99%) and seed cake (7.43 ± 0.24%) while the seed having the lowest moisture content (4.81 ± 0.99). The crude protein content for M. oleifera seed cake (53.23 ± 0.42) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of M. oleifera seed (40.66 ± 0.34%) and the leaves meal had the lowest crude protein (27.26 ± 0.55). The ash contents for M. oleifera leaves meal (10.61 ± 0.14%) were significantly higher compared with M. oleifera seed cake (8.34 ± 0.07%), and the seed had the lowest ash content (3.44 ± 0.14%). The lipid content of M. oleifera leaves meal (17.17 ± 0.65%) was significantly higher when compared with M. oleifera seed, and the seed cake had the lowest lipid content (13.51 ± 1.23). The fiber content for M. oleifera seed (17.08 ± 0.61) was significantly higher when compared with M. oleifera leaves meal (8.91 ± 0.33%), and the seed has the lowest fiber content (2.48 ± 0.16). The NFE for M. oleifera leaves meal (27.17 ± 0,45%) was significantly higher when compared with M. oleifera seed (18.24 ± 0.94), and the seed cake had the least NFE content (15.02 ± 1.42%). The result of mineral composition showed that the plant contained a higher amount of some minerals; This includes potassium, calcium sodium, magnesium, and manganese. For the amino acid composition, it clearly stated that the plant contains some essential and non-essential amino acids. The results of the phytochemical test revealed that all the plant parts analyzed contain anti-nutritional factors. Further research should be carried out to test the nutritional and biochemical values of Moringa oleifera seed cake and leaf meal using culture fish species.