Abstract
ABSTRACT One possible alternative to chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment and prevention of diseases in fish farms is the use of Piper aduncum essential oil. However, ecotoxicological data are required to ensure its proper use and to prevent adverse effects on non-target organisms. These data are relevant since this essential oil is described as having insecticidal, molluscicidal and cytotoxic activitiy that may be associated with its chemical composition. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the ecotoxicity of P. aduncum essential oil to five test organisms using the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) statistical approach. The chemical composition of the essential oil was characterized by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) for identification and quantitation purposes, respectively. The main component (75.5%) of the essential oil was dillapiole. The hazardous concentration for 5% of biological species (HC5) was calculated to determine the 95% protection level, resulting in a value of 0.47 mg L-1 (with a confidence interval of 0.028 - 1.19 mg L-1. ). A concentration range related to the level of protection for aquatic communities (the predicted no-effect concentration, PNEC) was determined through the application of safety factors to the HC5 value. The ecotoxicity parameters showed that P. aduncum essential oil can be used safely in water bodies at a concentration equal to or below 0.09 mg L-1.
Highlights
Essential oils have been considered as a possible method of disease prevention and treatment in aquaculture that causes less adverse environmental effects than veterinary drugs (Elumalai et al 2020)
Non-target organisms may eventually come into contact with the essential oil when it is used for therapeutic purposes in aquaculture production or when the aquaculture effluents reach the water bodies in the surrounding areas (Bártíková et al 2016)
The main peak in the gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) chromatogram corresponded to dillapiole, which accounted for 75.5% of the essential oil (EO) composition, followed by (E)-caryophyllene (4.7%) and myristicin (4.2%)
Summary
Essential oils have been considered as a possible method of disease prevention and treatment in aquaculture that causes less adverse environmental effects than veterinary drugs (Elumalai et al 2020). Essential oils have shown interesting properties for aquaculture when administered correctly, such as sedative (Aydin and Barbas 2020), anesthetic (Hoseini et al 2018), antimicrobial (Sutili et al 2014), immunomodulation (Al-Sagheer et al 2018), and stress reducing activity (Souza et al 2017). The essential oil of P. aduncum has been used to treat fish diseases (Queiroz 2012; Corral et al 2018), yet no information exists on its behavior against aquatic non-target organisms. Non-target organisms may eventually come into contact with the essential oil when it is used for therapeutic purposes in aquaculture production or when the aquaculture effluents reach the water bodies in the surrounding areas (Bártíková et al 2016). The ecotoxicological assessment is required to determine the parameters for the safe use of the essential oil in fish farming (Souza et al 2019; Bashir et al 2020)
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