Sustainable Production: Integrating Medicinal Plants with Fish Farming in Aquaponics—A Mini Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors I find the article very interesting for publication and presents an excellent review of references, to this end, I recommend the following questions:

 1.- Figure 1 should be improved in its content, and what is shown in part A should be more visible, the box is not necessary.

2.- In section 3, put the chronological order of the follow-up, for example 3.1 Synergy Between Fish and Plants, line 150, so on, line 199, line 232, line 355.

3.- In the section “Pharmacological Value of Herbs Suitable for Aquaponics Cultivation” on page 6, line 232, provide a short introduction.

4.- Introduce a conclusions section.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

 

 

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study effectively highlights the relevance and importance of integrating medicinal plants with fish farming in aquaponic systems. It emphasizes the environmental and economic benefits of this sustainable approach, which is a significant and timely topic. However, some improvements are required based on the following comments.

The transition between different topics, such as the environmental benefits, economic potential, and pharmacological benefits of medicinal plants should be more clarify.

Specify what new insights or contributions this review aims to provide compared to existing literature.

“Aquaponics, defined as the sustainable combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, integrates plant and fish production into a single system” need correction

“This innovative approach offers substantial economic potential by utilizing naturally occurring nutrients for the growth and development of the organisms” revise.

Clarify what is meant by "efficient use of symbiosis" and provide specific examples or mechanisms.

Provide more details on the criteria for selecting suitable medicinal plants and the specific pharmacological benefits assessed.

Include specific examples of previous research findings to support "aquaponics" and "integrated system.

Provide specific data or examples to support the claim "The integrated system reduces infrastructure costs, conserves water, and minimizes the potential for environmental pollution."

Figure 1 provide more detail mechanism graphically and should be clear everything must be visible.

Italicize plant names and other species names throughout the text. Mentha piperita

Section heading some words are with capital letters and some in sentence case.

Line 356-357 should be cited with recent studies. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-024-00654-3, http://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2022.3.0475,

Provide conclusion and future perspective in the last of the study.

Some sentences says about previous studies or numerous studies but not cited.  

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Italicize all plant and species names. In addition there must be coherence among paragraphs

Author Response

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors posed an interesting and relevant problem on a current topic.

 

As a note:

1. It is necessary to improve the design of the article, in terms of setting the research problem and research methodology

2. We need more links to the sources that served as the basis for the analysis of the publication.

 

3. The article does not contain data on the possible economic risks and problems of aquaponics: the spread of pathogens and diseases in aquaculture, selection of species in aquaculture for a specific crop, production conditions and costs, disposal of aquaponics waste - growing mats.

 

Based on the results, it is necessary to provide a more detailed analysis of the problems of aquaponics and the influence of expression conditions on the quality of raw materials obtained from medicinal plants (herbs).

Author Response

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. It is necessary to use the full Latin name of the species, at the first mention, for example, line 116 "Table 1. The herbal plants and fish, in the conditions of aquaponic cultivation." "Basil (Ocimum basilicum)", indicate "Ocimum basilicum L., 1753"

 

2. Line 209, the design of "Figure 1. Experimental aquaponics system for cultivation and fish and herbs: A) Fish tank; B) Filters (mechanical and biological filter); C) plant section (with cultivated herbs) ", requires improvement.

 

3. Lines 290, 305, 398, for example: "Dill (Anethum graveolens L.)-", add spaces after the brackets, for the dash "-".

 

4. Line, 423, increase middle column, formatting "Table 2. The herbs for medicinal purposes cultivated in aquaponics."

 

5. Expansion of aquaculture facilities for aquaponics at the expense of other hydrobionts - amphibians, turtles and invertebrates, on the one hand, can provide an economic effect, on the other hand, introduce new pathogens and increase the cost of their monitoring, as well as protective measures. I propose to add, and "other aquaculture objects" in lines 503-504: Diseases can quickly spread in the closed-loop system, potentially leading to severe losses of fish stock and plant production, thus affecting the overall productivity and economic feasibility of the operation [178, 179]."

 

In general, the production of biofertilizers and biogas from biomass of both plants and heat-treated (sterilized) animal biomass is profitable, but requires high technological costs for grinding and sterilization, as well as standardization and production control of the resulting biofertilizer. It is more profitable to use in a closed production cycle. When scaling and entering the market, overhead costs for certification, transportation and storage will increase. This issue also needs to be considered, as well as the dependence of the aquaculture object on the quality of products, according to the required indicators for medicinal plants.

Author Response

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 3

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have made changes. The article has been improved for publication.

I agree that aquaponics can be localized, as close as possible to the consumer. According to our data, profitability remains, if there is demand, even at a distance of up to 1000 km, for example, when growing greens + calarium catfish and tilapia.

The issue is beyond the scope of the article, but there are risks when introducing aquaponics into aquaponics; it requires attention, in connection with cases of the spread of pathogens, for example

 Ranavirus (Iridoviridae) for fish, amphibians and reptiles (https://doi.org/10.1007/s007050200000), Elizabethkingia maricola(https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9030091; https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed .13761), Citrobacter fumigatus (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aqrep.2022.101037) and others.

 

-209: Change required "Figure 1. Experimental aquaponics system for cultivation and fish and herbs: A) Fish tank; B) Filters (mechanical and biological filter); C) plant section (with cultivated herbs)":

for example,

1) photographs on the left and right, made of equal size;

2) add a diagram of the process "fish tank" - "filter" - "plant cultivator" - "water return" (additional purification ).

Author Response

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx