Effects of dietary supplementation with zinc oxide or selenium nanoparticles and their combination on rabbit productive performance, nutritional and physiological responses

Journal Article

2024

Published in: https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2024.2391550

Rabbit; nanotechnology; minerals; digestibility; blood biochemical parameters

This research investigated how supplementing growing rabbits with zinc oxide nanoparticles

(Nano-ZnO) and selenium nanoparticles (Nano-Se) impacts their growth performance, digestibility,

blood biochemistry, and liver mineral content. The study utilised 40 male and 40 female

New Zealand White rabbits, all 30 days old, with an average weight of 720 ± 6 g. Rabbits were

divided into four treatment diets with 10 replicates of two rabbits each (one male and one

female) for 60 days. The diets comprised of 1) control diet, 2) control diet þ 40 mg/kg Nano-

ZnO, 3) control diet þ 0.6 mg/kg Nano-Se, and 4) control diet þ 40 mg/kg Nano-ZnO þ 0.6 mg/

kg Nano-Se. Results showed that dietary Nano-ZnO and Nano-Se in single or combination

improved (p<0.05) the growth performance, carcase yield, crude protein, and ether extract

digestibility compared with the control group. Rabbits received Nano-ZnO and Nano-Se alone or

in mixture showed lower (p<0.05) abdominal fat and serum levels of cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase

(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine, and urea activities than the

control. The addition of Nano-ZnO, Nano-Se, or their combination did not affect the concentrations

of zinc or selenium in the livers of male and female rabbits. In conclusion, dietary supplementation

of Zinc oxide and Selenium nanoparticles alone or in combination improved growth

performance and nutrient digestibility of male and female rabbits.

• Publication Work Type: original article
• Publisher Name: Taylor & Francis
• Publishing City: Riyadh
• Volume Number: 23
• Issue Number: 1
• Magazine \ Newspaper: Italian Journal of Animal Science
• Pages: 1258–1268