Role of the Plant Morinda citrifolia L. in Management of Diseases in Fish Cultured: A Mini-review

Production failure in fish farming activities, one of which is caused by disease. So the prevention of disease needs to be done by using environment friendly technology. Disease control efforts can be carried out through preventive and curative measures. Preventive measures can be taken by increasing the immunity of fish. The use of herbal ingredients is relatively safe for fish and the environment to be used as a source of drugs or immunostimulants. Morinda citrifolia is one of the medicinal plants that contains various types of active ingredients that are antibacterial and immunostimulant, including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, steroids, phenols and terpenoids, glycosides, carbohydrates, coumarine and scopoletin. Therefore, M. citrifolia, both the fruit and the leaves, can be used for treatment and prevention of diseases that attack cultured fish. The purpose of writing this article is to describe several research results that prove the ability of parts of the noni plant, namely the leaves and fruit to be used as drugs or immunostimulants as an effort to control diseases in cultured fish. Several studies have shown that noni plays a role in overcoming diseases that infect cultured fish, both for treatment and prevention. The parts of M. citrifolia plant used are the leaves and fruit in various dosage forms, namely extract, flour and juice. The types of diseases that can be cured are bacterial diseases caused by Aeromonas hydrophila that infect Leptobarbus hoevenii, Cyprinus carpio, Barbonymus gonionotus, Carassius auratus and Oreochromis niloticus fish and parasitic diseases caused by Argulus sp., Lernaea sp. and Trichodina sp. Several types of fish, namely Cyprinus carpio, Oreochromis niloticus and Penaeus monodon increased body resistance after being treated with M. citrifolia, which was indicated by an increase in the number of leukocytes, an increase in total phagocytic activity and high survival after being challenged with pathogenic organisms.