Mentha piperita powder enhances the biological response, growth performance, disease resistance, and survival of Oreochromis niloticus infected with Vibrio alginolyticus

• Published in: Aquaculture international 2024-10, Vol.32 (5), p.6353-6379
• Main Authors: Abu-Zahra, Nagwa I. S., ElShenawy, Abeer M., Ali, Gehan I. E., Al-sokary, Eman T., Mousa, Mohamed A., El-Hady, Hala A. M. Abd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Aquaculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Blood cells; Diet; Disease resistance; Feed additives; Feed conversion; Feeding experiments; Fish; Food additives; Food conversion; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Gene expression; Haemoglobin; Hematology; Histology; Immunostimulants; Life Sciences; Lipoproteins; Marine fishes; Medical treatment; Mentha piperita; Oreochromis niloticus; Parameters; Sustainable aquaculture; Vibrio alginolyticus; Zoology
• ISSN: 0967-6120; 1573-143X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10499-024-01469-5

Recently, medical plants have been widely used as replacements for antibiotics in disease treatment. Because of its multiple medicinal uses, peppermint ( Mentha piperita , MP) is a common herbal remedy. In the present study, MP powder was used as a feed additive to assess growth performance; hematological; biochemical and immune parameters; intestinal histology; and interleukin 1β ( IL-1β ) gene expression, as well as protection against Vibrio alginolyticus infection in Oreochromis niloticus . O. niloticus ( n  = 120, 25.66 ± 0.16 g) were fed diets containing 0 (CTR), 2, 3, or 4% MP for 60 days. The results revealed that the inclusion of 2% MP significantly improved the growth indices, intestinal morphological parameters, and reduced the feed conversion ratio. The 2% MP treatment significantly ( P