THE EFFECT OF CHAMOMILE TEA (Matricaria recutita) ON THE FIN
PERFORMANCE OF GUPPies, Poecilia reticulata
Kelsi Vahid and Andy Vu
Department of Biological Sciences
Saddleback College
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) tend to be fast due to natural selection. This
adaptation is due to high predation around guppies and fast swimming is used as an
escape mechanism. Chamomile tea (Matricaria recutita) is commonly used for its
calming ability. An experiment was conducted (by whom?) to determine the effect of
chamomile tea on the movement performance in male Poecilia reticulata. The male
fish were individually recorded, in front of a grid, for ten minutes each. Two runs
were conducted, one with freshwater and one with chamomile tea. The same ten fish
were used for both runs. The mean fish movements for Poecilia reticulata in
freshwater was 197 ± 24.26 boxes crossed per minute (±SEM, N= 10). The mean
fish movements for Poecilia reticulata in chamomile tea was 63 ± 8.42 boxes crossed
per minute (±SEM, N= 10). There was a significant difference in the mean fish
movements in chamomile tea (paired t-test, one-tailed, p=1.7x10-4). This supported
the tested hypothesis that the mean fish movements in chamomile tea was
significantly lower than the mean fish movements in fresh water. Concluding
remark?
Introduction
The Poecilia reticulata, also known as the guppy, is a very common fish around
the world, ranging from 4.0 cm to 6.0 cm in length, possesing four fins as a male and six
as a female. The males average a weight of 85.8 mg (Garcia et. al. 2008). The multiple
fins assist the guppies in accelerating their speed. Guppies tend to be fast due to natural
selection (explain this more). In the wild, the need for very rapid acceleration is required
in order to escape from predators (Ghalambor et. al. 2004). The focus of this
investigation is to determine whether Matricaria recutita tea, also known as chamomile
tea, will have a calming effect on the guppy fish. Matricaria recutita is known to have
antimicrobial properties, as well as soothing effects (McKay and Blumberg 2006).
A previous study on the guppy fish was done by Chessick et. al. (1964). The
researchers added the drugs tryptamine and tryptophan to guppy fish at a dose of 0.25
mg/ml and at a dose of 0.75 mg/ml. Six fish were used as the experimental group, while
the other six were used as the control group. It was determined that the high dose of
drugs caused the activity of the fish to decrease, and the fish had less of an interest in
food. This study helped determine how much chamomile tea should be given to the
guppy fish (How did this help? Are they the same kind of drug?).
The calming effect of chamomile tea has been studied in humans; however, the
effect of chamomile tea in the Poecilia reticulata seems to not have been studied as
extensively. It is then hypothesized that Matricaria recutita tea will slow down the
animal movement in male Poecilia reticulata.
Material and Methods
Subjects
Ten guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were used in this study. The Celestial
Seasonings Chamomile, the P. reticulata, and a 1000 ml test tank 15.24 cm long and 7.62
cm tall were purchased. Two blue, two red, two orange, two yellow, and two black male
guppies were obtained. All experimentation was conducted beginning March 31, 2011
through April 1, 2011 at one of the researcher’s homes in Lake Forest, CA. The guppy
fish were housed in a ten-gallon tank with water at 22ºC and at a pH of 6 to 6.5.
Conditioning crystals were added to the tank containing tap water before the fish were
added to create freshwater. The fish were then placed into the tank.
Procedures
Before experimentation began, the weight of each P. reticulata was determined
by placing each fish into a beaker filled with freshwater onto a SmartPro balance. The
average weight of the guppy fish was determined in order to determine the correct
amount of chamomile tea needed for the experiment (0.25 grams of chamomile grains
were selected per 1000 ml of water, 0.25 mg/ml =0.25g/1000ml). The calculations were
based off of the Chessick et. al. (1964) experiment. chamomile tea bags were then
opened and 0.50 grams of the grains were weighed out and placed into 2000 ml of boiling
water. After the tea preparation, the grains were drained out and the 2000 ml of tea was
put into a container. This process was repeated five times in order to obtain 10,000 ml of
chamomile tea. Sixteen conditioning crystals were then added to the containers of tea in
order to prepare the tea for the fish.
A clear glass divider was placed into the center of the test tank, leaving 4.5 cm of
space on both sides. A grid with seventy-two 1 cm long and 1 cm wide boxes was taped
to cover the entire back panel of the test tank, which was used to determine the fish
movement. Two fish were then placed into either side of the test tank with 1000 ml of
freshwater from the tank and were given three to five minutes to adjust. The fish were
recorded for fifteen minutes each, then individually placed into their original tank after
each trial. Sessions were video recorded with an iPad (what version/year?).
The second run was prepared by pouring 1000 ml of chamomile tea into the test
tank. One guppy fish was placed into the frontal section of the test tank and was given
ten minutes to adjust. The fish was then video recorded for fifteen minutes. This was
done for each of the ten fish, which were then individually placed back into the original
tank after each trial.
During the duration of the experiment, five guppy fish died. One black, one red,
one yellow, one blue, and one orange. Each fish was returned and one fish of each color
was purchased. Both runs were done on each of the newly purchased fish and any tests
done to each dead fish prior to the death of the five guppy fish were not used.
Statistical Analysis
The number of boxes was then determined by counting how many boxes the
premaxillary portion of the fish passed by within ten minutes. All the data then
transferred to Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington) where all
further statistical calculations were obtained. The rates were determined by boxes per
minute.
Results
The mean combined fish movement for trials done in fresh water was 197 ± 24.26
boxes crossed per minute (±SEM, N= 10). The mean combined fish movement for trials
done in chamomile tea was 63 ± 8.42 boxes crossed per minute (±SEM, N= 10). There
was a significant difference in the mean fish movements in chamomile tea (paired t-test,
one-tailed, p=1.7x10-4). These data are present in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Mean fish movement in boxes per minute for Poecilia reticulata in Matricaria recutita tea
was significantly lower that the mean fish movement in boxes per minute for the Poecilia reticulata in
freshwater. (p= 1.7 x 10-4, one-tailed paired t-test). Error bars are mean ±SEM.
Discussion
These results support the hypothesis. The guppy fish movement decreased greatly
after being placed into the chamomile tea. This was due to the relaxation effect that
chamomile tea caused on the fish. According to McKay and Blumberg (2006),
chamomile is a natural way to reduce spasms and therefore calms down the activity of the
animal. The 0.25 grams of chamomile per 1000 ml of water was chosen in order to have
a significant difference between fish movement in the freshwater and in the chamomile
tea without harming the fish. The chamomile tea was made in order for the guppy fish to
slowly inhale chamomile. If the chamomile grains had been put into the water directly,
the problem of consumption by mouth would have been taken into effect.
The water was conditioned in order to have the perfect environment for the guppy
fish. Poecilia reticulata naturally live in a freshwater environment without the chlorine
that is placed into regular tap water. This chlorine is toxic to the guppy fish, becoming
harmful to their health. Therefore, conditioning crystals were used in order to remove the
chlorine found in tap water to make freshwater.
Guppy fish are known to be very fast burst start swimmers in response to escaping
predators. For a guppy fish to reach maximum velocity takes an average time of 18.297
±□3□223 ms (Oufiero and Garland 2009). However, with chamomile tea, fish movement
greatly decreases as shown in the experiment (p= 1.7 x 10-4).
In an article by Wang et. al. (2005), the ingestion of chamomile tea was explored.
It was shown that the extracted essential oils from the chamomile have antimicrobial
properties and possess antimicrobial activity. Future studies on this could determine if
these properties affect the ingestion or movement of the Poecilia reticulata in any way.
Next step potential studies could determine the effect of chamomile tea along with
temperature, pH, and female guppies. These future studies could also alter the amount of
chamomile used to test the fish movement as well as compare chamomile tea to a manmade calming drug on the guppy fish.
References
Chessick R., Kronholm J., Beck M., Maier G. (1964). Effect of pretreatment with
tryptamine, tryptophan and DOPA on LSD reaction in tropical fish.
Psychopharmacologia 5, 390-392.
Garcia C., Troncoso W., Sanchez S., Perdomo L. (2008). Contribution to vital statistics
of a guppy Poecilia reticulata Peters (Pisces: Cyprinodontiformes: Poecillidae)
pond population in Santa Marta, Colombia. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic
Sciences. 3(3): 335-339
Ghalambor C., Reznick D., Walker J. (2004). Constraints on adaptive evolution: the
functional trade-off between repro-duction and fast-start swimming performance
in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata). American Naturalist. 164:1, 38–
50.
McKay D., Blumberg J. (2006). A review of the bioactivity and potential health benefits
of chamomile tea Matricaria recutita L. Phytother. Res. 20, 519–530.
Oufiero C., Garland T. (2009). Repeatability and correlation of swimming performances
and size over varying time-scales in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Functional
Ecology. 23, 969-978.
Wang Y., Tang H., Nicholson J., Hylands P., Sampson J., Holmes E. (2005). A
metabonomic strategy for the detection of the metabolic effects of chamomile
(Matricaria recutita L.) ingestion. J. Agric. Food Chem. 53, 191−196.
Review Form
Department of Biological Sciences
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692
Authors: Kelsi Vahid and Andy Vu
Title: The Effect of Chamomile Tea (Matricaria recutita) on the Fin Performance of The
Guppy, Poecilia reticulata
Summary
Chamomile is known for calming stress and relieving anxiety, and is mainly ingested as a
tea. Ms. Vahid and Mr. Vu wanted to see if the influence of this substance would
decrease the activity of the guppy fish. They purchased ten guppies, 2 of each color, and
made them a freshwater habitat in a large glass tank, using conditioning crystals to
extract the chlorine out of the tap water that was used. The chamomile grains were
brewed with boiling water to make a tea out it first before introducing it to the
experimental tank. If the grains were simply dropped into the tank, they could have been
ingested orally, which could have been a source of error in the experiment. To measure
the amount of movement a guppy would display, a grid was taped to the back of the fish
tank. The number of times the premaxillary portion of a fish passed a line on the grid was
counted, and the total number was recorded within the time span of a minute. Five fish
died throughout the course of the experiment, and another five were purchased (the same
colors as the ones that died). The experiment resulted in a significant difference between
the fish that were submerged in the chamomile tea environment and the fish that were in
the freshwater environment. Their hypothesis was supported in that the chamomile
slowed down the activity of the fish.
General Comments
The paper is very well written and includes all of the necessary data. I corrected a few
grammatical errors and left notes where I thought there should be more expansion. I like
how there is a relation to the notion that people drink chamomile tea to relieve their
stress. The grammatical errors (such as using the word “affect” rather than “effect”) were
distracting to the content of the paper. There are only six references; there should be at
least ten. The most prevalent error was capitalizing the word “chamomile.” I think it
would be nice if there were a little more biological or physiological explanation for why
the chamomile lowers physical activity (how the drug inhibits or enables certain
hormones and its relation to cortisol, which is usually associated with stress. I think some
information on neurotransmitters would make Professor Teh quite proud!
Technical Criticism
This paper was a final version
This paper was a rough draft
The side margins need to be one inch in length. Some of the headers in bold are centered,
and some are left justified. I fixed some of the margins of the references section.
Recommendation
 This paper should be published as is
 This paper should be published with revision
 This paper should not be published