Use of Green Tea, Camellia sinensis L., in Practical Diet for Growth and Protection of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), against Aeromonas hydrophila Infection

Abstract

The microbial diseases cause economic losses in aquaculture on global scale and the use of commercial antibiotics for disease treatment produces undesirable side effects. Because many medicinal herbs have evolved potent defense against pathogenic bacteria, there is a growing interest in these herbs as sources for natural antibacterial agents. In this context, green tea (GT), Camellia sinensis L., is considered as a promising source that may be used for improving the growth, survival, and protection of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, against Aeromonas hydrophila infection. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the use of GT in practical fish diets and its impact on fish growth and health. GT leaves were ground and added to the ingredients of tested diets to represent 0.0 (control), 0.125, 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, or 2.0 g/kg diet. Fish (1.5–2.0 g) were distributed to various treatments at a rate of 20 fish per 100‐L aquarium and fed one of the experimental diets for 12 wk. After the feeding trial, fish of each treatment were challenged by pathogenic A. hydrophila, and they were kept under observation for 10 d during which abnormal clinical signs and the daily mortality was recorded. The growth‐promoting influences of GT were observed and the optimum growth and feed utilization were obtained at 0.5 g GT/kg diet. The inclusion of GT in fish diet up to 0.5 g/kg diet enhanced the protein contents in fish body, while the lowest lipid contents were obtained at 0.0–0.5 g GT/kg diet. Hematological and biochemical parameters were improved in fish fed 0.25–2.0 g GT/kg diet, while the lowest values were obtained in the control. The survival of fish challenged with A. hydrophila increased with increasing GT level in fish diets. These results indicate that GT supplement is promising immunostimulant, which could improve fish performance, health, and prevent tilapia aermoniosis and the optimum GT level was 0.5 g/kg diet.

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“…GTE in diets increased the HCT, RBC and Hb that was dose-dependent. Similar results were obtained by Abdel-Tawwab et al (2010) in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, which found that RBCs, HCT, and Hb increased significantly with increasing dietary green tea levels compared to control fish. Increase in lymphocytes was seen in fish received OFO and GTE.…”

“…This phenomena had been showed in some previous studies. Increase in protein retention and improvement of absorption and digestion are possible mechanisms of effects of GTE on growth parameters (Abdel-Tawwab et al, 2010;Hwang et al, 2012).…”

“…Green tea as food additive in fish diet had been reported to increase disease resistance, improved survival rate, growth rate, stress responses and antioxidant system (Cho, Lee, Park, Ji, Lee, Bae, & Oh, 2006;Abdel-Tawwab, Ahmad, Seden & Sakr, 2010;Sheikhzadeh, Nofouzi, Delazar, & Oushani, 2011;Ebrahimi, Salati, Azarm, & Hasanpour, 2015). Main compositions of green tea, a product that made up from leaf and buds of the plant Camellia sinensis are tea polyphenols, vitamins, nitrogenous compounds, caffeine, inorganic elements, lipids and carbohydrates (Ebrahimi et al, 2015).…”

The response of fish to immunostimulant diets

“…Nile tilapia fed with GT with changes in immune parameters [136] but no significant differences were 414 observed with a GT polyphenol supplemented diet [137].…”

“…In Nile tilapia fed with GT experimental diet for 12 weeks a higher growth performance, hemato-immune 355 parameters and cumulative survival against A. hydrophila was observed [136], while in yellowtail (Seriola 356 quinqueradiata) fed with GT polyphenols supplemented diet no significant differences were observed 357 [137].…”