Mitigation of Herbicide Induced Toxicity in African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus) Using Turmeric and Ginger as Ameliorating Agents

Abstract

This study investigated the protective effects of turmeric and ginger as dietary supplements in mitigating herbicide induced toxicity in juveniles of Clarias gariepinus. A total of 300 healthy juveniles weighing (20.15-20.18g) were used for a 28-day feeding experiment conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. The fish were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: negative control (without herbicide and medicinal plant supplements), positive control (herbicide exposure without supplements), turmeric-supplemented diet with herbicide exposure, and ginger-supplemented diet with herbicide exposure. Each treatment was replicated three times. Fish were fed twice daily at 5% body weight. Growth performance parameters, haematological indices, biochemical and oxidative stress parameters were analyzed. Results showed that fish exposed to herbicide without supplementation exhibited significantly reduced growth performance, lower haematological values, and elevated biochemical markers of liver damage compared to the negative control. However, fish fed diets supplemented with turmeric and ginger demonstrated significant improvement in growth, haematological parameters, biochemical and oxidative stress indices compared with the positive control group (p < 0.05). Turmeric supplementation showed slightly higher protective effects than ginger in most measured parameters. The improvements observed are attributed to the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxifying properties of curcumin and gingerol present in the plant extracts. The study concludes that turmeric and ginger possess significant ameliorative potential against herbicide induced toxicity in C. gariepinus.