Plant essential oils against bacteria isolated from fish: an in vitro screening and in vivo efficacy of Lippia origanoides

ABSTRACT: The use of natural products, such as essential oils (EOs), is a potential novel approach to treat fish bacterial infections with a lower risk of developing resistance. There has been a number of studies reporting the activity of EOs as those obtained from the species Achyrocline satureioides, Aniba parviflora, Aniba rosaeodora, Anthemis nobilis, Conobea scoparioides, Cupressus sempervirens, Illicium verum, Lippia origanoides, and Melaleuca alternifolia against bacteria. However, there are few studies investigating the effect of these EOs against fish bacteria. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activity of EOs against the following fish bacteria, Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter freundii, and Raoultella ornithinolytica. Additionally, the in vivo antibacterial activity of the EO L. origanoides was evaluated against experimentally induced A. hydrophila infection of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen). The EO of L. origanoides was chosen as it showed the highest in vitro antibacterial activity, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 mg mL-1. This EO also presented a therapeutic success of 58.33%, on a 30 day A. hydrophila infection. Therefore, we suggested that the EO of L. origanoides may be a viable alternative as a treatment for A. hydrophila infection.