Immunity and Overall Tissue Health of Stinging Catfish, Heteropneustes Fossilis (Bloch, 1794) in Curcumin Medium

Alternative safe ingredients are being increasingly promoted for resilient and sustainable activity, as they are in demand to replace drugs in aqua feed. Curcumin is a multifunction feed additive having immunostimulant and growth-promoting properties. In the present study, curcumin was synthesized and its potency was tested in the water on fish immunity and vital tissue anatomy. Adult Heteropneustes fossilis was treated for a short period (1, 5 days) to a long period (21 days) alone, further, its post-treatment clearance effect (one week without curcumin after 21 days treatment) was studied. The results showed that a mild dose of curcumin (10 μg/mL) in the medium was able to improve fish health (gill, liver, kidney histotexture) and immunity (direct and indirect haematology parameters) within a short duration and progressed further in a duration-dependent manner. Among haematological indices, some of them increased while others decreased significantly after curcumin treatment. Among immunity parameters white blood corpuscles, myeloperoxidase activity increased and nitroblue tetrazolium registered a decrease significantly, but the one-week post-treatment effect suggested poor maintenance of curcumin induced positive response towards health and immunity. Overall, the addition of curcumin (10 μg/mL) improved the growth performance and health of Heteropneustes fossilis.