Review of the Application of Garlic, Allium sativum, in Aquaculture

Abstract

The extensive use of antibiotics and various chemical compounds has resulted in drug residue and resistant pathogens in treated fish. Drug residue not only pollutes the environment, but also threatens human consumers. In contrast, garlic as a well‐known natural antibiotic that causes no environmental or physical side effects has shown to be effective for the treatment of many diseases in humans and animals owing to its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antihypertensive properties. In aquacultural operations, garlic with dose optimization is strongly recommended. This review focuses on the application of garlic in various fish diseases treatments and the prospects of using garlic preparations in aquaculture.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Spirulina platensis and Garlic on the Growth Performance and Expression Levels of Immune-related Genes in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

“…Dietary supplementation of Garlic (5g/kg) showed significant increase in final weight, weight gain and SGR (Table 3). The growth potentiating effect of garlic is depending on the most effective ingredient allicin which is responsible for intense garlic flavor and strong stimulatory effect on olfaction in most aquatic animals [21]. It has a strong food calling effect, improves gastrointestinal motility, and modulates the secretion of various digestive enzymes to improve digestion and nutrient absorption.…”

“…Several effects of garlic could be involved in the increment of protein efficiency and fish growth. Allicin could activate intestinal proteases which convert feed protein into fish protein, increasing the content of palatable amino acids [21]. Most of fish diet is lacking amino acids that generate an aroma and palatable taste such as, histidine, leucine, aspartic acid and valine.…”

“…It is one of the most effective natural immunostimulants with a reputation as an "all-healing" herb [21]. Garlic and its biological derivatives are known to have many attributes in human and animal medicine such as hypolipidemic, antiatherosclerotic, antitumorigentic, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, insecticidal, and immunostimulant [21].…”

“…It is one of the most effective natural immunostimulants with a reputation as an "all-healing" herb [21]. Garlic and its biological derivatives are known to have many attributes in human and animal medicine such as hypolipidemic, antiatherosclerotic, antitumorigentic, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, insecticidal, and immunostimulant [21]. These beneficial effects of garlic are due to presence of various biological organo-sulphur compounds particularly, allicin which is responsible for the pungent garlic flavor, strong food calling effect, antimicrobial and immunostimulant properties [22].…”

Expression of innate immunity genes in kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus after in vivo stimulation with garlic extract (allicin)

“…Much research has been conducted on the inhibitory effects of garlic on the principal pathogenic bacteria of freshwater fish, including P. fluorescens, M. piscicola, E. tarda, Aeromonas hydrophila, A. punctata f. intestinalis, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Staphylococcus aureus (Lee and Yang 2012).…”