The Effects of Dietary Thyme Oil (Thymus vulgaris) Essential Oils for Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio): Growth Performance, Digestive Enzyme Activity, Antioxidant Defense, Tissue and Mucus Immune Parameters, and Resistance against Aeromonas hydrophila

Hamed Ghafarifarsani; Seyed Hossein Hoseinifar; Atefeh Sheikhlar; Mehdi Raissy; Fatemeh Heidarinezhad Chaharmahali; Worawit Maneepitaksanti; Mehwish Faheem; Hien Van Doan

doi:10.1155/2022/7942506

The Effects of Dietary Thyme Oil (Thymus vulgaris) Essential Oils for Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio): Growth Performance, Digestive Enzyme Activity, Antioxidant Defense, Tissue and Mucus Immune Parameters, and Resistance against Aeromonas hydrophila

Aquac Nutr. 2022 Sep 14:2022:7942506. doi: 10.1155/2022/7942506. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Hamed Ghafarifarsani¹, Seyed Hossein Hoseinifar², Atefeh Sheikhlar³, Mehdi Raissy⁴, Fatemeh Heidarinezhad Chaharmahali⁵, Worawit Maneepitaksanti^{6

7}, Mehwish Faheem⁸, Hien Van Doan^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
² Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
³ Animal Science Department, Van Hall Larenstein University-Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Aquatic Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran.
⁵ Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran.
⁶ Department of Animal and Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁷ Innovative Agriculture Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁸ Department of Zoology, Government College University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil (TVO) on growth performance, digestive enzymes, biochemical parameters, hematological indices, liver enzymes, and pathogen resistance in common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Triplicate groups of fish (15.36 ± 0.10 g) were fed daily with diets supplemented with TVO at 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 percent for 60 days then challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila. The results determined that supplementation of thyme resulted in significantly higher final body weights (FBW) and lower feed conversion ratios (FCR). Furthermore, no mortality was observed in the thyme-supplemented treatments. Regression analysis showed that fish growth parameters were polynomially related to dietary TVO levels. The optimum dietary TVO level, based upon the varied growth parameters, was 1.344 to 1.436%. Digestive enzymes activity, including amylase and protease, significantly increased in fish fed the supplemented diets. The thyme-supplemented diets also significantly increased the biochemical parameters, including total protein, albumin, and acid phosphatase (ACP), compared to the control group. We also observed significant increases in hematological indices, including red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hematocrit (Hct), and hemoglobin (Hb) in common carp fed diets containing thyme oil (P < 0.05). Liver enzymes activity including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was also reduced (P < 0.05). Immune parameters, including total protein and total immunoglobulin (total Ig) levels, alternative complement pathway hemolytic (ACH₅₀), lysozyme, protease, and ALP in the skin mucus, and lysozyme, total Ig, and ACH₅₀ in the intestine were higher (P < 0.05) in TVO-supplemented fish. Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the liver were also elevated (P < 0.05) in TVO administered groups. Lastly, thyme-supplementation resulted in higher survival rates after the A. hydrophila challenge compared to the control (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary inclusion of thyme oil (1 and 2%) effectively improved fish growth, immune systems, and resistance to A. hydrophila.