Indian Herbal Medications to Replace Antibiotics for Shrimp<i>Penaeus monodon</i>Post Larvae

Abstract

Abstract Herbs with known antibacterial characteristics were chosen and extracted with different polar and non-polar solvents and screened against five different shrimp pathogens: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio harveyi, and V. parahaemolyticus. Five different diets were prepared by incorporating equal proportions of these five herbal extracts at increasing concentrations: Control (0), HD1 (200), HD2 (400), HD3 (600), and HD4 (800 mg/kg of diet). Diets were individually fed to the Penaeus monodon post larvae (PL 25) for 30 days. At 10-day intervals, post larvae were bath challenged with V. harveyi and observed for pathological signs. Post larvae fed the HD 4 diet enjoyed a 75% improvement in survival over the control group and significantly improved final weights and SGR (P < 0.05). The herbal diets HD1 to HD4 helped to decrease the Vibrio load in P. monodon post-larvae after challenging. Keywords: Antibacterialherbalsbacterial pathogens Penaeus monodon Notes Dr. Thavasimuthu Citarasu gratefully acknowledges the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, for its financial support in the form of a research grant (Young Scientist Fellowship—SR/FT/L-27/2005).