Aquaculture being the fastest-growing food-producing sector in the world employs different kinds of production systems (FAO, 2019). Among these systems, aquaponics is considered one of the most efficient and environmentally sustainable methods of the 21st century (FAO, 2014;; it is simply the combined culture of fish and plants in a recirculating system. Mainly, recirculatory aquaculture systems are designed to raise large quantities of fish in relatively small volumes of water by treating the water to remove toxic waste products and reuse again for fish culture (Rakocy & Hargreaves, 1993;Timmons et al., 2010;Verdegem, 2013). Although the nitrifying bacteria convert toxic ammonia and nitrite into less toxic nitrate in specialized filters called biofilters, however, if there are disturbances to the biofilter or ammonia production that exceeds the capacity for the

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This study was conducted to determine the biological filtration capabilities of some culinary herbs co‐cultured with lemon fin barb hybrid in a nutrient film technique (NFT) recirculating aquaponic system. Lemon fin barb hybrid (Hypsibarbus wetmorei ♂ × Barbonymus gonionotus ♀) fingerlings were stocked in twelve 2‐tonne fibreglass tanks at 25 fish per tank and co‐cultured with Chinese celery (Apium graveolens var. secalinum Alef.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and peppermint (Mentha × piperita) for seven weeks. The impacts of the waste generated by the fish on the water quality, the filtration capability of the herbs and the ability of fish and herbs to retain nutrients (NPK) were also estimated. All the herbs showed water purifying potentials to varying degrees as significantly lower levels of nitrogenous compounds (NH3‐N, NO3‐N, NO2‐N) were observed after the herbal filtration. The plant growth seemed to be affected by their ability to absorb nutrients and consequently purify the culture medium. Interestingly, the lemon fin barb hybrid also showed significant differences in terms of weight gain, but the nutrient retention among fish treatments was not statistically different. The plants absorbed less phosphorus and potassium than the fish. After computing for the total system percentage of NPK recovered, nitrogen was the most retained nutrient. The peppermint showed superiority in terms of gross biomass and water purifying potential compared to the Chinese celery and coriander.

Food poisoning, is an acute disease caused by the consumption of contaminated, spoiled or toxic foods as a result of poor hygiene, poor packaging and ignorance of the consumer. The major sources of food poisoning are viruses, bacteria and parasites. Reports show that Asia and the sub-Saharan have the highest case of illness which can be traced back to food poisoning and in Nigeria, about 200,000 cases of Nigerians death was as a result of food poisoning. Other factors that contribute to food poisoning are food allergies, about 4-8% of human beings have food allergies especially in developed countries although the sensitivity levels vary. Microbial contamination which is caused by infectious organisms is also another major factor that contributes to food poisoning. Infectious organisms like rodents deposits pathogens that are toxic to human health into the soil, fruits and water supplies. Pathogens like; Staphylococcus aureus, Toxoplasma spp., Streptobacillus moniliformis, Trichinella spp., Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, and Hantaviruses can be deposited by rodents. This article helps to elucidate the dangers of consuming poisonous foods, factors to look out for in food processing and packaging and the important causes of food poisoning.