Effects of Garcinia kola “Bitter Kola” Powder on Sex Reversal, Survival and Growth Performance of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.)

This study was carried out in 2022 at the Itato agriculture community estate of fish hatchery in eastern Senegal with the aim of finding an alternative method to 17-α-methyl testosterone (MT) by using Garcinia kola “Bitter kola” powder to obtain Oreochromis niloticus male sex populations. 1800 fry of average size between 0.01 and 0.02 g were distributed in 12 aboveground tanks of 1 m3 each at a rate of 150 individuals/tank, following 6 duplicate treatments. The negative (B1 and B2) and positive (B3 and B4) control diets, to which between 0 and 60 mg/kg of 17alpha-methyl testosterone had been added respectively, were mixed with industrial feed containing 40% protein; the tank diets (B5 and B6), (B7 and B8), (B9 and B10) and (B11 and B12) contained 10 g, 20 g, 30 g and 40 g of Garcinia kola powder respectively for 1 kg of industrial feed con-taining 40% protein. These different treatments resulted in high proportions of males in the order of 97.03%; 98.09% for the hormone and proportions of 94.03%; 93.26% for 20 g of Garcinia kola extracts. In terms of weight growth, the best average weights for the hormone and Garcinia kola were 0.896 g and 0.980 g respectively. With regard to fish survival, the following results were recorded: 95.53% and 94.56% respectively for additions of 20 g and 30 g of Garcinia kola extracts to the feed supplied to the fish. On the other hand, a significant difference in the mortality rate of 35% and 5% respectively for the conventional hormone and 20 g of Garcinia kola extracts was observed. To conclude the study, it is recommended that further studies be carried out to determine the quality of the flesh, their life stages and the profile of the amino acids present in their proteins.