Biomitigation of ammonical stress in aquaculture using luffa sponge coupled with medicinal and aromatic plants for...

Ammonia, a major stress-inducing factor in aquaculture, contributes a significant challenge in maintaining sustainable fish production. Addressing this issue requires environmentally and economically sustainable solutions. This study explores the use of readily available and environmentally friendly porous lignocellulosic luffa sponge as a biostimulator, with a combination of three medicinal and aromatic plants(MAPs) viz. Asparagus racemosses(satavari) roots, Cammiphora wightii(guggal) stems, and Vitex negundo(nirgundi) stem for alleviating ammoniacal stress by biotransforming ammonia in aquaponics water/ aquaculture. A 45-day experiment was conducted using Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in tanks containing aquaponics water. The study consists of a control (C) and four treatments: L(Luffa), LS(Luffa + shatavari roots), LG(Luffa + guggal stem) and LN(Luffa + nirgundi stem). Ammonia was spiked weekly at different concentrations(2, 2.5, 3, 5, and 10 mgL^-1). The L group showed significantly(p < 0.05) higher ammonia removal of 86.06% ± 9.62(spiked 3 mgL^-1) in 24 hrs, and 73.98%±2.6 and 86.35%±4.47(spiked 5 mgL^-1) in 24 and 48 hrs, respectively, which may be attributed to a higher surface area of the substrate for microbial attachment. The MAPs upregulated fish's hematological and serum biochemical parameters under elevated ammonia, indicating ammonical stress mitigation. Treatment groups showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher fish yield than the control (165.66 ± 0.50 g), with L, LS, LG, and LN giving a yield of 174.76 ± 2.07, 175.41 ± 0.59, 179.07 ± 4.29, and 181.57 ± 0.45 g respectively, with no significant difference detected among them. Promising outcomes in ammonia removal and stress mitigation were demonstrated by incorporating the lignocellulosic biomass and MAPs in this study, which is beneficial in commercial aquaculture with prospects in aquaponics systems.