The potency of synbiotics in improving the growth rate, feed conversion ratio, protein retention and lipid retention in nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Synbiotics are defined as the combination products of probiotics and prebiotics in supporting the growth of microorganisms in the host’s digestive tract. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of synbiotic addition in feed formulation towards the growth rate (length and weight), feed conversion ratio, protein retention and lipid retention of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). This research used a Completely Randomized Design with 5 treatments and 4 repetitions. The treatments were: T0 (Control), T1 (prebiotic 1% and probiotic 1%), T2 (prebiotic 1% and probiotic 2%), T3 (prebiotic 2% and probiotic 1%) and T4 (prebiotic 2% and probiotic 2%). The prebiotics used are commercial products and the probiotics used are Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus, in concentrations of 2×10⁸ CFU g^-1. The data were analyzed with the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the use of synbiotics significantly improved (p<0.05) the growth rate, length and weight of tilapia, but did not significantly improve (p>0.05) protein and lipid retention. Based on the results of the study, the use of synbiotics improve the growth rate of tilapia.