Effect of Cynodon dactylon extract on white spot virus-infected Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study the phytochemical composition of Cynodon dactylon and investigate if the oral administration of this plant extract adsorbed on the pellet feed was capable of protecting L. vannamei challenged with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). The shrimps were distributed into five batches, and experiments were run by triplicate: uninfected shrimps fed with pelleted feed without ethanolic extract of C. dactylon (ECDE, TC), infected shrimps fed with pelleted feed without ECDE (T1), infected shrimps fed with 1% of ECDE (T2), infected shrimps fed with 2% of ECDE (T3), and infected shrimps fed with 4% of ECDE (T4). The phytochemical screening of ECDE showed several compounds such as with important biological activities consistent with the results observed in vivo. Treatment with 2% ECDE showed a protective effect against WSSV and survival of 62% with no clinical signs of infection.