Effect of indescriminate use of seponins in killing wild

Vertebrate Species in Aquaculture

ISBN: 978-81-930307-0-7

EFFECT OF INDESCRIMINATE USE OF SEPONINS IN KILLING

WILD VERTEBRATE SPECIES IN AQUACULTURE.
Rathneswara Rao. B* and Narasimha Murthy. C.V
*Baptal Arts and Science College, Baptla
Sri Vivekanda Degree College, Vinjamur

Abstract
Tea seed cake (or powder) is a residue remaining after the oil has been extracted
from the seeds of certain plants in the Camellia family. It is compressed into a cake shape
(powder also available) and contains saponin (a toxin reacting in the blood), suitable for
many applications .Saponins are steroid or triterpenoid glycosides, common in a large
number of plants and plant products that are important in human and animal nutrition.
Several biological effects have been ascribed to Saponins. Extensive research has been
carried out into the membrane-permeability, immunostimulants, hypocholesterolaemic and
ant carcinogenic properties of Saponins and they have also been found to significantly affect
growth, feed intake and reproduction in animals. These structurally diverse compounds have
also been observed to kill protozoans and molluscs. They impair the digestion of protein and
the uptake of vitamins and minerals in the gut, to cause hypoglycemia, and to act as
antifungal and antiviral agents. These compounds can thus affect animals in a host of
different ways. In order to weed out fish and fish fingerling in aqua cultural ponds Saponins
are used. When these Saponins leach out from ponds into canals, river and sea may cause
deleterious effect on the wild fish and vertebrate populations that are in natural waters.
Introduction:
The use of plant-derived materials such as legume seeds, different types of oilseed
cake, leaf meals, leaf protein concentrates, and root tuber meals as fish feed ingredients is
limited by the presence of a wide variety of antinutritional substances. Important among these
are protease inhibitors, phytates, glucosinolates, saponins tannins, lectins, oligosaccharides
and non-starch polysaccharides, phytoestrogens, alkaloids, antigenic compounds, gossypols,
cyanogens, mimosine, cyclopropenoid fatty acids, canavanine, antivitamins, and phorbol

Proceedings of National Seminar on Use of chemicals and antibiotics in aquaculture activities

in the Coastal Region of Andhra Pradesh on 19th & 20th December 2014

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Effect of indescriminate use of seponins in killing wild

Vertebrate Species in Aquaculture

ISBN: 978-81-930307-0-7

esters. The effects of these substances on finfish are severe. Saponins are steroid or
triterpenoid glycosides, common in a large number of plants and plant products that are
important in human and animal nutrition. Several biological effects have been ascribed to
saponins. Extensive research has been carried out into the membrane-permeabilising,
immunostimulant, hypocholesterolaemic and anticarcinogenic properties of saponins and
they have also been found to significantly affect growth, feed intake and reproduction in
animals. These structurally diverse compounds have also been observed to kill protozoans
and molluscs, to be antioxidants, to impair the digestion of protein and the uptake of vitamins
and minerals in the gut, to cause hypoglycaemia, and to act as antifungal and antiviral agents.
These compounds can thus affect animals in a host of different ways both positive and
negative. There have been several reviews in recent years of published reports about various
properties of Saponins (Kensil, 1996; Yoshiki et al. 1998). Tea Seed Meal is mainly used to
kill wild fish during culture period. Tea Seed Meal consists of a particular element, Tea
Saponin. Tea Saponin has strong toxicity to fish, but no harmless to shrimp, crab, sea
cucumber, etc. The reason is that there is different hemoglobin between fish and shrimp, crab,
sea cucumber, etc. Fish contains heme, while the shrimp contains copper hemocyanin. And
tea saponin only has effect on heme, i.e. killing fish, no harm to shrimp, crab, sea cucumber,
etc. Moreover, it can also be served as healthy food for shrimp and crab due to its extremely
rich content of protein and crude fibre. In this an attempt is made to study the adverse effect
of tea cake powder on aquatic biota.

Materials and methods:

In the present study Tea cake powder is used as a source of Saponins. Tea seed meal
(also known as tea seed cake) is a dark brown grainy residue of the camellia seed and
green tea seed after the pressing process, 12-18% of which is comprised of tea saponin.
3

Saponin may be applied at a rate of 0.5 g/m (i.e. 0.5 mg/L) to remove unwanted fishes.
Reduced salinity decreases the toxicity of saponins to fishes. The saponin concentration of
1.1 mg/L killed tilapia after a 1-h exposure at 35 ppt salinity. At 10 ppt salinity the same
3

concentration took 14.516.5 h to kill the fish. At an application rate of 0.25 kg/m , the
3

hypothetical 8000-m pond would require 2000 kg for piscicidal treatment.

Proceedings of National Seminar on Use of chemicals and antibiotics in aquaculture activities

in the Coastal Region of Andhra Pradesh on 19th & 20th December 2014

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Effect of indescriminate use of seponins in killing wild

Vertebrate Species in Aquaculture

ISBN: 978-81-930307-0-7

Discussion:
Tea seed cake (or powder) is a residue remaining after the oil has been extracted
from the seeds of certain plants in the Camellia family. It is compressed into a cake shape
(powder also available) and contains saponin (a toxin reacting in the blood), suitable for
many applications. The saponins are naturally occurring surface-active glycosides. They are
mainly produced by plants, but also by lower marine animals and some bacteria (Riguera,
1997; Yoshiki et al. 1998). They derive their name from their ability to form stable, soap-like
foams in aqueous solutions. This easily observable character has attracted human interest
from ancient times. Saponins consist of a sugar moiety usually containing glucose, galactose,
glucuronic acid, xylose, rhamnose or methylpentose, glycosidically linked to a hydrophobic
aglycone (sapogenin) which may be triterpenoid or steroid in nature. The

aglycone may

contain one or more unsaturated CC bonds. The oligosaccharide chain is normally attached
at the C3 position (monodesmosidic), but many Saponins have an additional sugar moiety at
the C26 or C28 position (bidesmosidic). The great complexity of saponin structure arises
from the variability of the aglycone structure, the nature of the side chains and the position of
attachment of these moieties on the aglycone. Experiments demonstrating the physiological,
immunological and pharmacological properties of saponins have provoked considerable
clinical interest in these substances. A large number of the biological effects of saponins have
been ascribed to their action on membranes. In fact, their specific ability to form pores in
membranes has contributed to their common use in physiological research (El Izzi et al.
1992; Authi et al. 1988; Choi et al. 2001; Menin et al. 2001; Plock et al. 2001). Saponins
have long been known to have a lytic action on erythrocyte membranes and this property has
been used for their detection. The hemolytic action of saponins is believed to be the result of
the affinity of the aglycone moiety for membrane sterols, particularly cholesterol (Glauert et
al. 1962), with which they form insoluble complexes (Bangham & Horne, 1962). The amount
of glycosides required for permeabilisation is much lower for cholesterol-rich lipid layers
than cholesterol-free membranes (Gogelein & Huby, 1984). Isolated cell membranes from
human erythrocytes when treated with saponin developed pores of 4050A diameter as
against the 80A pores produced in artificial membranes. Compared with the reversible
perforations caused by substances such as vitamin A, the membrane pores or defects
produced by saponins were long-lasting and such membranes were then permanently
permeable to large molecules like ferritin . The lesions that are caused by saponins are

Proceedings of National Seminar on Use of chemicals and antibiotics in aquaculture activities

in the Coastal Region of Andhra Pradesh on 19th & 20th December 2014

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Effect of indescriminate use of seponins in killing wild

Vertebrate Species in Aquaculture

ISBN: 978-81-930307-0-7

thought to be a micelle-like aggregation of saponins and cholesterol in the plane of the

membrane, possibly with saponin molecules arranged in a ring with their hydrophobic
moieties combined with cholesterol around the outer perimeter (Bangham & Horne, 196).
Other reports depict the interactions between saponins and biological membranes to be more
complex.
. Saponins could induce a permeability change on liposomal membrane without cholesterol
when they are glycosylated at both C3 and C28 (bidesmosidic) of the oleanolic aglycone (Hu
et al. 1996). The efficacy as absorption-enhancing agents across nasal mucosa in rats was
greatest in those Quillaja Saponins with the lowest surfactant strength and hemolytic titres ..
Saponins destroy red blood cells (haemolysis) and therefore reduce oxygen uptake and alter
haemoglobin concentrations (Homechauduri & Banerjee 1991). Saponins might also damage
the gills of aquatic organisms (Chen & Chen 1998). Crustaceans may be less sensitive to
saponins than fishes and saponins have been used in shrimp farming to selectively
anaesthetise and/or kill invasive fishes in shrimp ponds (Minsalan & Chiu 1986). An increase
in water temperature or a decrease in dissolved oxygen concentration increases the sensitivity
of finfish Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and flathead goby (Glossogobius giurus)) to
teaseed cake (Minsalan & Chiu 1986). Saponins are used to control pest fishes; they are
especially used in penaeid shrimp farming as they are less toxic to crustaceans than fishes
(Minsalan & Chiu 1986; Chiayvareesajja et al. 1997a). Tea seed cake has been used as a
selective poison against fishes at a concentration of 15 mg/L (Minsalan & Chiu 1986), and it
may also be used as a fertilizer to condition ponds prior to stocking with shrimp (Mathur et
al. 1974; ASeAN 1978). Tea seed cake can also be used to stimulate molting in shrimp (Hu &
Cao 1997), and as a piscicidal that is less toxic to nitrifying bacteria than other treatments
(Sarthe & Das 2005). Tea seed cake and mahua oilcake have been used to kill all unwanted
species (e.g. eels, mullets, sea basses and tilapia) in aquaculture ponds prior to stocking for
shrimp farming in India (Aquaculture Authority 1999). Following their degradation and
decrease in toxicity, the piscicides act as organic fertilizers (Shyam et al. 1993; Aquaculture
Authority 1999)

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Vertebrate Species in Aquaculture

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ISBN: 978-81-930307-0-7

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