SCORING OF MILKFISH (Chanos chanos) GILL DAMAGE ADDED WITH FRACTIONATED NONI LEAVES (Morinda citrifolia)

Abstract

Red spot disease known as Motile Aeromonas Septicemia (MAS) is a serious challenge often faced by freshwater fish farmers. This disease is caused by infection with the bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila and can be fatal if not treated properly. Therefore, it is important to find alternative solutions that are more environmentally friendly, one of which is through the use of natural ingredients or herbal medicines. One of the natural ingredients that has the potential to be used to treat this infection is noni leaves (Morinda citrifolia). This study aims to explore the content of active compounds in noni leaf extract and test its effectiveness in overcoming tissue damage in milkfish infected with A. hydrophila. In this study, the Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) method was used to identify active compounds, and scoring was carried out on the level of damage to the fish gills. The results of the phytochemical test showed that noni leaf extract contains compounds from the Terpenoid and Flavonoid groups, which are suspected of having antibacterial activity. Data analysis was carried out quantitatively using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) method to ensure the accuracy of the results. From histopathological analysis, several tissue damages such as vacuole degeneration, congestion, and necrosis were found. Observations showed that the optimal dose of mengkudu leaf extract for the treatment of infected milkfish was 360 ppm. From these results, it can be concluded that mengkudu leaf extract has the potential as a natural therapeutic agent to overcome Aeromonas hydrophila bacterial infections in milkfish (Chanos chanos).