article · Reviews in Aquaculture
Aquatic organisms face continuous exposure to physical stressors and chemical pollutants such as industrial effluents, agricultural pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. These environmental contaminants trigger reactive oxygen species, driving oxidative stress that impairs fish health and growth. Natural dietary antioxidants provide a route to counter these adverse physiological effects. Lycopene, a primary carotenoid pigment found in tomatoes, red fruits, and vegetables, demonstrates strong antioxidative properties across multiple fish species. When included in feed, lycopene supports fish health by enhancing immune and antioxidative defences against chemical toxins and physical stressors. Evaluating the mode of action and dietary administration of lycopene shows how this phytochemical mitigates oxidative stress and haemato-immunological damage, presenting clear benefits for fish welfare within aquaculture operations.
Pollution and environmental stress significantly threaten farmed fish health by triggering cellular damage and reducing growth rates. Identifying natural feed additives such as lycopene provides practical ways to protect aquatic stock from chemical runoff and physical disturbances. Understanding how these plant-derived antioxidants strengthen fish immunity helps sustain healthier populations in environments exposed to agricultural and industrial waste.
This work supports the development of functional aquafeed formulations incorporating lycopene to protect commercial fish stocks against environmental toxins and operational stress. Target end users include commercial aquafeed manufacturers and fish farming enterprises. Because the findings derive from an overview of existing experimental studies and mechanisms of action, practical application is at an applied research stage that requires feed formulation trials and dosage standardisation before routine commercial adoption.
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Abstract Aquatic organisms are susceptible throughout their lives to chemical and physical stressors, which negatively affect their health. Various aquatic pollutants derived from industrial effluents, overuse of some agricultural pesticides, herbicides and insecticides may cause devastating toxicological aspects of aquatic organisms and deteriorate their health and growth. They also led to oxidative stress to fish due to the stimulation of the production of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, the need for using natural antioxidants to be used as feed additives is of great importance to counteract the hazardous oxidative stress responses. The use of phytochemicals, which characterized by substantial antioxidative effects, has been raised. Lycopene is the principal carotenoid pigment found in tomatoes and their products, vegetables and red fruits. Numerous studies have recommended the use of lycopene as a powerful antioxidant to attenuate the oxidative stress responses in several fish species exposed to various toxicants or any other stress conditions. Lycopene maintains the health condition of fish by enhancing the immune and antioxidative responses. This review article aimed to elucidate the current information about the potential use of dietary lycopene for several fish species and its capability to attenuate the oxidative stress and haemato‐immunological alterations resulted from aquatic environmental pollutants and other physical stressors. Additionally, the review discusses some aspects regarding the lycopene mode of action to assess the profits that would be of importance in the aquaculture industry.
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DOI: 10.1111/raq.12455
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