Review on the Progress in the Role of Herbal Feeds in Freshwater Aquaculture

Fish of commercial importance are farmed in captivity under controlled conditions to fulfill the demand of white meat for human consumption. Hence, increased intensification of aquaculture has led to many constraints including, poor growth, and poor health. This has made it hard for fish farmers to turn the biological benefits associated with intensive farming systems into economical gain. Moreover, the wide adoption use of chemotherapeutic drugs to maintain health and hormones to control reproduction appears to be merely production-oriented, thus unsustainable. Hence, improvement of productions in aquaculture should also focus on environmentally friendly and with sustainable methods. Today, huge attention is focused on the use of medicinal herbal extracts to improve yield in aquaculture as alternatives to chemical agents. Accordingly, the aim of this work was to critically review the effectiveness of herbal extracts in tilapia farming, and further highlight gaps in the existing knowledge and the way forward in using medicinal herbal extracts in tilapia aquaculture. A wide range of medicinal herbal products were reported to enhance growth, appetite, immune responses, antioxidation, hepatoprotective activity and control reproduction in fresh water fishes; attributed by their abundant bioactive phytochemicals. However, the lack of sufficient knowledge on herbs limits the cost-effective use of herbal extracts in freshwater fish culture. Modest knowledge still exists on application of herbs and their potential impacts on fish. More research is therefore deemed necessary to optimize the use of herbs in freshwater fish culture