{"id":409499,"date":"2026-01-30T10:26:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/news\/oli-essenziali-farmaci-allevamenti-ittici\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:18:10","slug":"essential-oil-in-fish-farming","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOURCE \u2014 Sustainable and innOvative blUe food pRoduCtion under one hEalth approach<\/em> \u2014 is a new research project coordinated by the University of Pisa that aims to make aquaculture more sustainable by reducing the use of antibiotics through naturally derived phytobiotics, such as essential oils<\/strong>. The project has been funded by the Italian Science Fund (FIS2 \u2013 ERC-like) with over \u20ac1.3 million and will run for three years, from 2026 to 2029, with the University of Pisa acting as the lead institution.<\/p>\n

The goal of SOURCE is to develop innovative aquaculture models inspired by the \u201cOne Health\u201d approach<\/strong>, which integrates animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety. At the heart of the research is the study of the effectiveness of essential oils derived from lemon, thyme and rosemary as alternatives to antibiotics. In particular, by combining nutritional, ecotoxicological and immunological approaches, the project will assess the oils\u2019 effects on key Mediterranean aquaculture species such as gilthead seabream, mussels and clams. More broadly, reducing antibiotic use means tackling antimicrobial resistance, limiting the spread of pharmaceutical residues in ecosystems, and offering consumers safer and more sustainable food products. .<\/p>\n

\"\"
From right: Valentina Meucci and Lucia De Marchi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cItaly, together with Spain, France and Greece, is among the European countries with the greatest number of fish farms,\u201d explains Professor Valentina Meucci<\/strong> of the Department of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Pisa. \u201cThis is combined with the fact that demand for products from this sector has increased by 122% over the past ten years. This growth inevitably goes hand in hand with greater antibiotic use, which can have negative consequences for human health, highlighting the need to intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SOURCE project is led by Professor Lucia De Marchi<\/strong>, a researcher in the Department of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Pisa. She will coordinate a multidisciplinary programme based on in vitro and in vivo studies, ecotoxicological analyses and nutritional assessments, with the aim of defining concrete guidelines for more sustainable aquaculture.
\nDe Marchi is a 37-year-old biologist with an international PhD obtained in Portugal who works alongside Professor Meucci in the Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology Laboratory and is the author of more than one hundred scientific publications. Her research activity, conducted in both Italy and Portugal, focuses on the impact of marine contaminants and the risks associated with antibiotic use in aquaculture \u2014 topics that fuel her interest in innovative, nature-based solutions such as phytobiotics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cSOURCE is not only a scientific project, but also a pathway of social responsibility<\/strong>,\u201d stresses Lucia De Marchi<\/strong>. \u201cAlongside our research into phytobiotics, we place a strong emphasis on outreach and dialogue with coastal communities and industry operators because sustainable aquaculture concerns everyone. It is a key lever for ensuring healthy food, protecting the marine environment and building a food system that is genuinely future-oriented. We therefore hope to bring healthier products to the market and to commercialise these alternative feeds by involving the entire seafood supply chain, from producer to consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Pisa has launched SOURCE, a project aimed at reducing antibiotic use in aquaculture, with benefits for the environment, animal welfare and human health<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":405796,"menu_order":1,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"tag-notizie-persone":[],"tags_news":[1980],"categorie":[],"class_list":["post-409499","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tags_news-department-of-veterinary-sciences"],"yoast_head":"\nEssential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming ~ UNIPI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming ~ UNIPI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The University of Pisa has launched SOURCE, a project aimed at reducing antibiotic use in aquaculture, with benefits for the environment, animal welfare and human health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNIPI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T09:18:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/demarchi_meucci.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/\",\"name\":\"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming ~ UNIPI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/demarchi_meucci.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-30T09:26:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T09:18:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/demarchi_meucci.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/demarchi_meucci.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Da destra Valentina Meucci e Lucia De Marchi\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"UNIPI\",\"description\":\"UNIPI\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UNIPI\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Raggruppa-3020.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Raggruppa-3020.svg\",\"width\":176,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"UNIPI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unipi.it\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/unipisaofficial\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/unipisa\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming ~ UNIPI","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming ~ UNIPI","og_description":"The University of Pisa has launched SOURCE, a project aimed at reducing antibiotic use in aquaculture, with benefits for the environment, animal welfare and human health","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/","og_site_name":"UNIPI","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-20T09:18:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/demarchi_meucci.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/","name":"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming ~ UNIPI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/demarchi_meucci.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-30T09:26:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T09:18:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/demarchi_meucci.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/demarchi_meucci.jpg","width":900,"height":600,"caption":"Da destra Valentina Meucci e Lucia De Marchi"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/essential-oil-in-fish-farming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"","item":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Essential oils from lemon, thyme and rosemary could replace drugs in fish farming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/","name":"UNIPI","description":"UNIPI","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#organization","name":"UNIPI","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/Raggruppa-3020.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/Raggruppa-3020.svg","width":176,"height":64,"caption":"UNIPI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unipisaofficial\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/unipisa\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/409499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tag-notizie-persone","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag-notizie-persone?post=409499"},{"taxonomy":"tags_news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags_news?post=409499"},{"taxonomy":"categorie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unipi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie?post=409499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}