Mitigating potentials of natural herbal supplements against heavy metal toxicity in freshwater fish, Cyprinus carpio

Abstract

This research investigated the effectiveness of natural herbal supplements in reducing the harmful effects of heavy metals (HMs) toxicity on Cyprinus carpio (6.53 ± 0.01 g/fish). This study investigated the possible protective effects of natural herbal supplements on the growth, body composition, haematology, digestibility, and liver histopathology of common carp against the mixture of HMs. In phase 1, fingerlings were exposed to a mixture of HMs such as 100 µg/L lead acetate trihydrate/Pb (C₂H₃O₂)₂·3H₂O, 250 µg/L cadmium chloride anhydrous/CdCl₂, 800 mg/L zinc sulfate heptahydrate/ZnSO₄·7H₂O, and 2.5 mg/L copper sulfate/CuSO₄.5H₂O), and in phase 2, seven groups were established such as control positive group (CON + ve, HM exposure + without any treatment), control negative group (CON-ve, without HM exposure), and five groups with 1% turmeric (TUR), cinnamon (CUR), ginger (GIN), garlic (GAR), and their mixture (MIX), respectively. A total of 315 fingerlings were shifted to experimental tanks, i.e., 15 fingerlings per tank, and seven groups were made in triplicates. The results demonstrated that the carp exposed to HMs alone suffered detrimental health impacts. In contrast, when the fish were treated with natural herbal supplements, the MIX group exhibited noticeable positive improvements. In conclusion, the study suggests that natural herbal supplements are a potential solution to counteract HMs toxicity in C. carpio.