Section 5 of 8
CONCLUSION
Warut Kengkittipat, Manoj Tukaram Kamble, Sirikorn Kitiyodom, Jakarwan Yostawonkul, Gotchagorn Sawatphakdee, Kim D. Thompson, Seema Vijay Medhe, Saharuetai Jeamsripong, and Nopadon Pirarat · about 1 minutes
Dietary supplementation with CUR-NLCs improved growth performance, feed utilization efficiency, and resistance to S. agalactiae infection in Nile tilapia. CUR-NLCs showed favorable physicochemical characteristics, including nanoscale particle size, uniform dispersion, high encapsulation efficiency, and sustained in vitro release. Fish receiving CUR-NLCs had higher FW, WG, SGR, FI, and PER, and demonstrated positive allometric growth after 60 days of feeding. Following bacterial challenge, CUR-NLC-fed fish showed the lowest mortality (11.1 ± 2.2%), highest survival (88.9 ± 2.2%), and greatest RPS (82.4 ± 2.8%), with Cox regression indicating an approximately 86% reduction in mortality risk compared with infected controls.
These findings suggest that NLC-based delivery enhances the biological efficacy of CUR by improving its dispersion, sustained availability, and functional performance in aquafeeds. In practice, CUR-NLCs may serve as a promising phytobiotic-based nutritional strategy to improve productivity and disease resilience in streptococcosis-prone tilapia culture systems, potentially reducing reliance on conventional antimicrobials.
A major strength of this study is the integrated evaluation of CUR-NLCs, combining physicochemical characterization, antibacterial testing, growth assessment, feed utilization indices, growth allometry, and post-challenge survival modeling. However, the study was limited by the absence of long-term storage stability testing, tissue residue evaluation, histopathology, antioxidant and immune biomarker analyses, gut microbiota profiling, and farm-scale validation. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms underlying CUR-NLC-mediated protection, including immune modulation, oxidative stress responses, bacterial tissue burden, nanoparticle biodistribution, environmental fate, and economic feasibility under commercial aquaculture conditions.
Overall, CUR-NLCs represent a sustainable and biologically functional feed additive with potential application in Nile tilapia health management and production improvement.