Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 21;18(1):354.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-022-03451-w.

Use of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the growing rabbit diets to mitigate hot environmental conditions for sustainable production and improved meat quality

Ahmed A A Abdel-Wareth  1 , Shimaa A Amer  2 , Muhammad Mobashar  3 , Hazem G M El-Sayed  4
Affiliations

Use of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the growing rabbit diets to mitigate hot environmental conditions for sustainable production and improved meat quality

Ahmed A A Abdel-Wareth et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: This study evaluated the modulatory effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) supplementations on the productive performance, blood biochemistry, carcass criteria, and meat quality of White New Zealand rabbits reared under hot conditions. A total of 125 White New Zealand male rabbits (body weight, "650 ± 11", 30 days old) were assigned to five treatment diets: basal diets supplemented with ZnO-NPs at 0, 20, 40, 60, or 80 mg/kg for 60 days. Each treatment was replicated 25 times with one rabbit each.

Results: The body weight (BW), BW gain, and feed intake linearly increased with zinc oxide nanoparticle supplements. Supplementation of ZnO-NPs at 20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/kg significantly improved (linear, P < 0.05) the feed conversion ratio compared to the control group. Moreover, supplementation of ZnO-NPs at these inclusions 20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/kg significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the serum cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, and urea compared to control group. The lipid oxidation was lower, and the water holding capacity of rabbit meat was improved (P < 0.001) in rabbits fed on 20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/kg ZnO-NPs supplemented diets compared to control.

Conclusion: The results suggested that dietary supplementation of ZnO-NPs (20-80 mg/kg) can mitigate the negative impacts of heat stress on rabbit performance and health. Its supplementation improved growth performance and meat physicochemical properties, and blood biochemistry parameters of White New Zealand rabbits.

Keywords: Growth performance; Meat Quality; Rabbits; Serum metabolic profile; Zinc Nanoparticles.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Transmission electron micrographs (TEM) (a) and scanning (SEM) (b) of synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs); 1–100 nm, HV = 80 kv, and TEM Mag = 8000 x
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lebas F, Coudert P, Rouvier R, de Rochambeau H. The rabbit: breeding and pathology. FAO Animal Production and Health Series (FAO) 1984.
    1. Ferraz P, Ferraz G, Barbari M, Silva M, Damasceno F, Cecchin D, et al. Behavioural and physiological responses of rabbits. 2019.
    1. Zeferino C, Moura ASAMT, Fernandes S, Kanayama J, Scapinello C, Sartori JR. Genetic group× ambient temperature interaction effects on physiological responses and growth performance of rabbits. Livest Sci. 2011;140(1–3):177–183.
    1. Ebeid T, Zeweil H, Basyony M, Dosoky W, Badry H. Fortification of rabbit diets with vitamin E or selenium affects growth performance, lipid peroxidation, oxidative status and immune response in growing rabbits. Livest Sci. 2013;155(2–3):323–331.
    1. Mahmoud H E-D, Ijiri D, Ebeid TA, Ohtsuka A. Effects of dietary nano-selenium supplementation on growth performance, antioxidative status, and immunity in broiler chickens under thermoneutral and high ambient temperature conditions. Poult Sci J. 2016;53:274–283. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources