Effects of Dietary Peppermint (Mentha piperita) Essential Oil on Growth Performance, Plasma Biochemistry, Digestive Enzyme Activity, and Oxidative Stress Responses in Juvenile Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the supplementation of peppermint essential oil (Mentha piperita; PEO) in diets for juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). A feeding experiment with diets containing graded levels (0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 g kg−1) of PEO was carried out with fish of 0.58 ± 0.08 g. The inclusion of graded levels of PEO in the diet improved the weight gain (0.52 g kg−1), feed intake (0.51 g kg−1), and feed conversion (0.51 g kg−1) of juvenile Nile tilapia in a quadratic pattern. Increasing levels of PEO also led to a linear decrease in body lipid content. The gut activity of the digestive enzymes amylase (0.54 g kg−1) and protease (0.39 g kg−1) increased quadratically, whereas lipase activity increased linearly. PEO increased the activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT; 0.52 g kg−1) and superoxide dismutase (SOD; 0.58 g kg−1) while reducing the production of malonaldehyde (MDA; 0.40 g kg−1) and nitric oxide (NO; 0.63 g kg−1) in the liver. The results of this study provide evidence of the beneficial effects of PEO on the growth and health of Nile tilapia and recommend a dose of 0.6 g kg−1 as the optimal level of supplementation.

Growth Performance and Histomorphology of Intestine, Skin, Gills and Liver of Juvenile Colossoma macropomum Fed Diets Containing Different Levels of the Essential Oil of Nectandra grandiflora

“…The survival was not affected by the EONG levels and remained high (94.64%) during the 30 days of feeding. The use of EOs in fish diets has shown high survival rates with no differences in performance among the tested inclusion levels, as demonstrated for the following: Cyprinus carpio L. using different levels of oregano EO (Origanum vulgare) [9]; Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum using fennel EO (Foeniculum vulgare) [57]; O. niloticus using basil EO (Ocimum basilicum) [58], menthol [10], oregano (O. vulgare) [11,59] and peppermint EO (Mentha x piperita) [15]; Huso huso using rosemary EO (Rosmarinus officinalis) [60]; and Rhamdia quelen using Chinese cinnamon EO (Cinnamomum cassia) [16]. However, worse survival rates were found when supplementing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) diets with mint EO (Mentha spicata) [61].…”

“…Juvenile R. quelen fed diets supplemented with Chinese cinnamon EO (C. cassia) at levels between 0 and 1 mL/kg, showed better final weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate when fed 0.5 mL/kg [16]. Dietary supplementation with peppermint EO (M. piperita) at levels between 0 and 1 g/kg for juvenile O. niloticus showed better weight gain (0.52 g/kg), feed intake (0.51 g /kg), and feed conversion (0.51 g/kg) in a quadratic pattern [15]. In this way, the advantages of using EOs are evident, as is the need to evaluate different EOs for each different fish species.…”

“…EOs can induce varied physiological, biochemical, and hemato-immunological responses in fish [3] and may improve fish growth and health [4]. The benefits of incorporating EOs into diets include an improved growth performance [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], enzyme activity and development of intestinal villi [7][8][9][10][15][16][17], morphological alterations of the liver [18][19][20][21][22], body composition [15], and muscle oxidant/antioxidant status [16].…”