The effect of Leucaena leucocephala leaf extract on the Texture of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Fingerlings

The purpose of this study is to identify the difference of Tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) texture fed with different concentration of Leucaena leucocephala leaf extract sprayed on commercial feed. The texture parameter of the Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) was observed by using three different treatments (Treatment 1= 0% of L. leucocephala leaf extract, Treatment 2 = 10% of L. leucocephala leaf extract, and Treatment 3= 20% of L. leucocephala leaf extract) as feed additive. The Nile tilapia fish with an average weight of 18.3g were randomly picked for the preparation of samples. The results showed that the maximum hardness of (5651 ± 65.80) was observed in Treatment 2. Moderate hardness cycle of (5662.83± 85.26) was observed in Treatment 3 and low hardness (5579.33± 53.08) in Treatment 1. The maximum cohesiveness of (0.79 ± 0.14) was observed in Treatment 3 followed by (0.53 ± 0.07) in Treatment 1 and (0.50 ± 0.03) in Treatment 2. The level of springiness in Treatment 1 (61.39 ± 10.24) showed the highest result compared to Treatment 3 (51.30 ± 0.22) and Treatment 2 (51.23 ± 0.12). For gumminess, Treatment 3 (4144.67 ± 629.51) gave the best result compare with others and for chewiness, Treatment 3 (2085.90 ± 317.63) resulted higher followed by Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 with (1673.03 ± 182.49) and (1364.27 ± 89.94) respectively. From the analysis, the best texture preferences of Nile Tilapia fed with Leucaena leucocephala leaf extract showed in Treatment 3.