Role of Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb. In shrimp and fish: A mini review

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been commonly used in aquaculture to increase growth and immunity and control fish diseases as an effort to replace or as alternative to uses of chemical antibiotics and compounds. The use of medicinal plants in aquaculture provides safe and environmentally friendly compounds. Natural products of medicinal plants have been used in humans for thousands of years to treat disease. One of them is Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb. This article describes the potential of E. bulbosa as an antibacterial, prebiotic, and antioxidant as well as its efficacy on aquatic organisms. Addition of extracts and powders of E. bulbosa through feed to white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei was able to improve growth performance, immune response, and resistance against infection from pathogenic bacteria. Optimal use of E. bulbosa needs to pay attention to dose and size of shrimp cultured. So far, administration of E. bulbosa powder through feed was more effective and efficient than the use of E. bulbosa extract in a large scale. Research on E. bulbosa as an immunostimulant in fish is still limited. Further research on the use of E. bulbosa should be conducted to examine the effect of E. bulbosa on growth performance and fish health on a large scale aquaculture.