This study aimed to determine the beneficial effects of dietary herbs supplementation on hybrid grouper juveniles, a crossbreed of tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) and giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus). Diets of 50% protein and 12% lipid were fed to the hybrid groupers, each supplemented with 0.5% of betel leaves; BL (Piper betle), turmeric rhizomes; TR (Curcuma longa) or tuhau stems; TS (Etlingera coccinea) and a control (CON) diet for 8 weeks. The hybrid grouper juveniles were cultured in 100 L fibreglass tanks and fed twice daily. Growth performance, feed efficiency, apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC), body condition and proximate composition were observed. The highest and lowest growth rate was recorded in TR and BL respectively. However, the growth rate in TR was not significantly higher (p > 0.05) than those TS and CON. Similar results were observed in the total feed intake, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein utilization (NPU). Although BL recorded significant higher total feed intake (p < 0.05), the PER and NPU were significantly lower (p < 0.05) compared with the other groups. Body condition indices were not affected by the inclusion of TR and TS; however, significantly lower results were recorded in BL (p<0.05). The ADCs of protein and lipid were also significantly higher (p < 0.05) in TR and TS and significantly lower (p < 0.05) in BL compared with CON. The growth and feed efficiency of TR and TS supplementation were similar to CON. Nevertheless, the inclusion of these herbs increased the ADC of nutrient in the hybrid grouper.

中文翻译：

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添加日粮草本可改善杂交石斑鱼（Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × Epinephelus lanceolatus）幼鱼的生长、饲料效率和表观消化系数

本研究旨在确定膳食草药补充剂对杂种石斑鱼幼鱼、虎斑石斑鱼 ( Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ) 和巨型石斑鱼 ( Epinephelus lanceolatus )的有益影响。给杂交石斑鱼饲喂50%蛋白质和12%脂质的日粮，每条补充0.5%的槟榔叶；BL ( Piper betle )，姜黄根茎；TR ( Curcuma longa ) 或 tuhau 茎; TS（Etlingera coccinea) 和 8 周的对照 (CON) 饮食。杂交石斑鱼幼鱼在 100 升玻璃纤维水箱中培养，每天喂食两次。观察生长性能、饲料效率、表观消化率（ADC）、身体状况和近似组成。最高和最低的增长率分别记录在 TR 和 BL 中。然而，TR 的增长率并没有显着高于TS 和 CON （p  > 0.05）。在总采食量、饲料转化率、蛋白质效率比 (PER) 和净蛋白质利用率 (NPU) 中观察到类似的结果。尽管 BL 记录的总采食量显着较高 ( p  < 0.05)，但 PER 和 NPU 显着较低 ( p < 0.05) 与其他组相比。身体状况指数不受包含 TR 和 TS 的影响；然而，在 BL 中记录的结果明显较低（p<0.05）。 与 CON 相比，蛋白质和脂质的 ADC 在 TR 和 TS中也显着较高（p < 0.05），在 BL 中显着较低（p < 0.05）。补充TR和TS的生长和饲料效率与CON相似。然而，这些草药的加入增加了杂种石斑鱼的营养ADC。