Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Different Levels of Zinc, Manganese and Copper Nanoparticles on Growth Performance and Bioavailability in Commercial Broilers Chicks

Nanotechnology is an emerging field and it has shown the great impact in broiler sector for production. Although extensive research is needed to evaluate the safety of nanominerals.

A biological study was carried to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of inorganic, organic and nano forms of zinc, manganese and copper trace minerals on growth performance and immune status of commercial broiler chicken out for 35 days with 150 numbers of commercial broiler chicken and randomly distributed in 5 treatment groups viz., T₁ (Inorganic 100%), T₂ (Organic 100%), T₃ (Nano 100%), T₄ (Nano 50%) and T₅ (Nano 25%) comprising of 30 birds in each group.

The results revealed that body weight, cumulative body weight gain and feed intake of broiler chicken increased significantly (p<0.01) in the 50 and 100% nano trace mineral supplemented groups when compared to other groups without any significant change in FCR. T₃ and T₄ exhibited significant (p<0.05) improvement in serum superoxide dismutase activity. The mRNA expressions of biomarker gene metallothionein, manganese-superoxide dismutase and ceruloplasmin were upregulated in T₃ and T₄ groups revealing that the nano trace mineral supplementation had better bioavailability.