Effect of Tea Tree Oil as a Natural Feed Additive to Enhance Growth and Survival in White Leg Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)

Abstract

The aquaculture industry plays a crucial role in ensuring global food security. As an alternative approach, eco-friendly additives like essential oils are employed to avoid the direct and indirect effects on the aquatic ecosystem and human health. The current study aimed to explore the effect of tea tree oil (TTO) on the growth and survival of Penaeus vannamei. Five treatments were prepared with a formulation of 35% protein level. The TTO treatment diets were 0 mg/kg (T0, control), 25 mg/kg (T1), 50 mg/kg (T2), 75 mg/kg (T3) and 100 mg/kg (T4) and the experiment was conducted for 60 days. Two hundred and twenty-five shrimps were stocked in the 15 plastic aquarium tanks in five treatments with three replications by employing CRD design. The shrimps were fed twice in a day during morning and evening. The growth parameters, like mean weight, mean weight gain, were evaluated in fortnight intervals till 60 days. The survival rate was observed on a daily basis and the data on mortality. The specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), feeding efficiency ratio (FER), and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were evaluated after the 60 days experiment. The result of the experiment demonstrated higher mean weight gain and SGR in treatment T4 incorporated with 100 mg/kg TTO in the diet with a significant difference among all the treatments. The higher survival rate was exhibited in the TTO treatment groups as compared to control. While, the FCR, FER, and PER were also demonstrated to be higher in the treatments T4, but shows non-significant difference between treatments T2, T3 and T4. In conclusion, the study recommends the inclusion of 100 mg/kg in treatment T4, which demonstrated the beneficial effects on growth performance and survival rate of Penaeus vannamei.