ABSTRACT
Background:This study was carried out to determine the growth performance of rats fed graded levels of chitosan supplemented high fat diet.Methods:Thirty male wistar rats weighing between 70g and 90g were purchased and randomly allotted into three (3) treatmentgroups with graded levels of chitosan in high fat diet (1%, 3% and 5%) and three (3) control groups namely: normal diet, high fat diet (HFD) and normal diet +5% chitosan. The feed intakes as well as weight change of the experimental rats were monitored for six (6) weeks.Results:The results obtained showed that the highest level of feed intake and feed efficiency were recorded for animals in group fed 5% level of chitosan supplementation when compared to other treatment groups. Similar result was observed for the weight change (as there was significant reduction in the weight gain with increase chitosan supplementation in HFD) which can be attributed to the efficient utilization of feed consumption.Conclusions:It can be concluded that dietary chitosan prevents excess weight gain in hyperlipidemia and improves the overall nutritional attributes of the experimental diets by improving their feed efficiencies as compared to the control