Dietary Supplementation with Allspice Pimenta dioica Reduces the Occurrence of Streptococcal Disease during First Feeding of Mozambique Tilapia Fry

Allspice Pimenta dioica as a feed additive was studied for its effects on growth performance and disease resistance in Mozambique Tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus . Five isonitrogenous (36% crude protein) and isocaloric (18.5 kJ/g) diets were formulated to contain 0 (control), 5, 10, 15, or 20 g of allspice/kg of fish feed. In a 50-d feeding trial, 15 plastic tanks (21 L) were stocked with 35 fish fry (0.012 g) each. After the feeding trial, fish were exposed to Streptococcus iniae and mortalities were recorded. The second-order polynomial regression indicated that the dietary allspice level of 10 g/kg provided the best growth performance and feed utilization. The greatest survival after pathogen challenge was also obtained from the diet supplemented with allspice at 10 g/kg. Therefore, allspice acts as a growth promoter to improve feed utilization and weight gain in Mozambique Tilapia fry and acts an antimicrobial agent to enhance disease resistance during first feeding of fry. These results suggest that allspice can be used as an alternative to antibiotics in controlling streptococcal disease in tilapia culture. Received October 19, 2012; accepted January 20, 2014