Effects of the Aqueous Seed Extract of Tribulus terrestris on Sex Reversal of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

Indranath Ghosal; Suman Bhusan Chakraborty

Volume : IV, Issue : IX, September - 2014

Effects of the Aqueous Seed Extract of Tribulus terrestris on Sex Reversal of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

Indranath Ghosal, Suman Bhusan Chakraborty

Abstract :

Three days old mixed sex juveniles of Nile tilapia (mean weight 0.025 &plusmn; 0.009 g; mean length 1.25 &plusmn; 0.012 cm) were treated by immersion method with aqueous seed extract of Tribulus terrestris (ASET) at the concentration of 0.0 (control), 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 g/l for four weeks. The highest survival percentage (87.5&plusmn;2.5) was observed in control group, but there was no significant difference (P&gt;0.05) in survival percentage among the different treatment groups. The highest percentage of males (81.4&plusmn;0.5) was observed in 0.15 g/l group and it was significantly higher (P&lt;0.05) compared to all other treatment categories. Immersion treatment with ASET caused significant increase (P&lt;0.05) in percentage of males compared to that in untreated control. The extract showed presence of phytochemicals such as tannins, saponins, steroids and alkaloids, which might be associated with its androgenic property