Use of biological nano zinc as a feed additive in quail nutrition: biosynthesis, antimicrobial activity and its effect on growth, feed utilisation, blood metabolites and intestinal microbiota

Figures & data

Table 1. Zone of inhibition produced by zinc nitrate and zinc nanoparticles.

Bacterial strains	Zinc nitrate	Bio-ZnNPs					Cipro
Concentration (µg/mL)	20	20	40	80	160	320	320
B. subtilis	9.0 ± 0.8	12.0 ± 0.6	15.0 ± 0.5	16.0 ± 0.6	22.0 ± 0.4	28.7 ± 0.3	32.0 ± 0.2
L. monocytogenes	10.0 ± 0.7	13.0 ± 0.6	17.0 ± 0.4	17.0 ± 0.5	22.7 ± 0.4	34.0 ± 0.2	36.0 ± 0.1
St. aureus	8.0 ± 0.7	11.0 ± 0.7	14.0 ± 0.6	16.0 ± 0.6	19.0 ± 0.5	27.0 ± 0.3	31.0 ± 0.2
E. coli	7.3 ± 0.9	10.0 ± 0.7	12.0 ± 0.9	14.0 ± 0.8	17.0 ± 0.5	25.0 ± 0.4	28.0 ± 0.5
K. pneumonia	6.3 ± 0.9	9.0 ± 0.8	13.0 ± 0.7	14.0 ± 0.8	18.3 ± 0.5	26.7 ± 0.5	29.0 ± 0.5
S. enterica	7.0 ± 0.9	10.0 ± 0.7	11.0 ± 0.8	13.0 ± 0.9	14.7 ± 0.4	24.7 ± 0.5	27.0 ± 0.6

Mean ± SD.

Table 2. The MIC and MBC of the zinc nanoparticles.

Bacterial strains	MIC (µg/ml)	MBC (µg/ml)
Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633	40	80
Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313	35	70
Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 8538	45	90
Escherichia coli ATCC 8739	50	100
Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 27736	45	90
Salmonella enterica ATCC 35664	50	100

Means with different small letter within column are significantly different.

MIC: minimum inhibitory concentration; MBC: minimum bactericidal concentration.

Table 3. the antifungal activity produced by zinc nitrate and zinc nanoparticles.

Fungus	Zinc nitrate	Bio-ZnO-NPs					MIC
Concentration (µg/mL)	20	20	40	80	160	320
A. flavus	10 ± 0.5	12 ± 0.2	15 ± 0.2	20 ± 0.1	23 ± 0.1	26 ± 0.5	40
A. niger	11 ± 0.4	13 ± 0.2	16 ± 0.3	21 ± 0.1	24 ± 0.1	29 ± 0.4	35
F. oxysporium	9 ± 0.6	12 ± 0.2	14 ± 0.2	18 ± 0.2	23 ± 0.3	26 ± 0.3	65
P. expansum	8 ± 0.6	10 ± 0.3	13 ± 0.4	17 ± 0.3	20 ± 0.4	22 ± 0.1	85
A. alternate	9 ± 0.6	11 ± 0.3	14 ± 0.2	19 ± 0.2	22 ± 0.5	26 ± 0.2	60

Table 4. Growth performance of growing Japanese quail as affected by biological nano zinc.

Items	Biological nano zinc levels (g/kg diet)					SEM^a	p Value^b
	0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4		linear	quadratic
Body weight (g)
1 week	26.88	26.90	27.03	26.87	27.00	0.182	.7303	.9174
3 weeks	90.80	100.19	97.97	95.94	91.32	0.965	.3358	<.0001
5 weeks	177.09	189.68	203.39	186.55	178.50	2.062	.9639	<.0001
Body weight gain (g / day)
1–3 weeks	4.57	5.24	5.07	4.93	4.59	0.062	.2319	<.0001
3–5 weeks	6.16	6.39	7.53	6.47	6.23	0.195	.7614	0.0025
1–5 weeks	5.36	5.81	6.30	5.70	5.41	0.076	.9581	<.0001
Feed intake (g / day)
1–3 weeks	14.40	14.00	14.03	14.19	13.82	0.261	.3186	.8655
3–5 weeks	23.04	19.74	22.26	22.05	21.50	0.236	.4279	.0320
1–5 weeks	18.72	16.87	18.14	18.12	17.66	0.204	.2351	.1037
Feed conversion ratio (g / g)
1–3 weeks	3.15	2.67	2.77	2.88	3.01	0.047	.6543	.0002
3–5 weeks	3.74	3.10	2.96	3.41	3.46	0.066	.3759	<.0001
1–5 weeks	3.49	2.90	2.88	3.18	3.26	0.035	.2582	<.0001

^aStandard error means.

^bLinear and quadratic effects.

Table 5. Carcase traits and relative organs of growing Japanese quail as affected by biological nano zinc.

Items	Biological nano zinc levels (g/kg diet)					SEM^a	p Value^b
	0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4		linear	quadratic
Carcase %	75.5	75.98	78.08	79.32	75.66	1.647	.5145	.1832
Liver %	2.53	2.58	2.05	2.24	2.67	0.139	.8834	.0226
Gizzard %	2.38	2.4	2.02	2.38	2.02	0.118	.1342	.9762
Heart %	1.06	0.99	1.08	1.18	1.01	0.086	.7177	.6027
Giblets %	5.97	5.97	5.15	5.79	5.71	0.206	.3380	.1506
Dressing %	81.47	81.95	83.23	85.11	81.36	1.726	.6093	.2615

^aStandard error means.

^bLinear and quadratic effects.

Table 6. Hematological parameters of growing Japanese quail as affected by biological nano zinc.

Items	Biological nano zinc levels (g/kg diet)					SEM^a	p Value^b
	0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4		linear	quadratic
WBCs (103/μl)^c	179.01	291.96	201.73	246.19	182.29	19.409	.5439	.0141
LYM (%)	0.95	0.92	0.95	0.93	0.95	0.013	.8384	.5416
MID (%)	0.05	0.07	0.05	0.07	0.05	0.012	.9099	.5166
GRA (%)	0.004	0.005	0.002	0.006	0.002	0.001	.4332	.6553
RBCs (10^6/μl)	1.43	2.46	1.91	2.08	1.59	0.154	.9347	.0035
HGB (g/dL)	11.7	13.33	10.47	12.63	11.27	0.915	.6103	.7894
HCT (%)	16.93	31.47	24.30	28.23	21.43	1.847	.4125	.0027
MCV (µm3)	118.80	127.67	126.53	130.93	134.27	2.067	.0008	.5303
MCH (pg)	81.67	54.00	54.60	60.83	71.03	2.038	.0552	<.0001
PLT (103/μl)	16.67	24.33	18.00	15.00	18.33	3.494	.6501	.7327

^aStandard error means.

^bLinear and quadratic effects.

^cWBCs: white blood cells; LYM: lymphocytes; MID: mid-range; GRA: granulocytes; RBCs: red blood cells; HGB: haemoglobin; HCT: haematocrit; MCV: Mean corpuscular volume; MCH: Mean corpuscular haemoglobin; PLT: Platelet count.

Table 7. Blood constituents of growing Japanese quail as affected by biological nano zinc.

Items	Biological nano zinc levels (g/kg diet)					SEM^a	p Value^b
	0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4		linear	quadratic
TP (g/dL)^c	3.38	3.99	3.30	3.29	3.69	0.092	.8255	.5237
ALB (g/dL)	1.24	1.36	1.25	1.19	1.28	0.030	.3759	.9189
GLOB (g/dL)	2.14	2.63	2.05	2.10	2.40	0.062	.8792	.3546
A/G (%)	0.58	0.52	0.62	0.57	0.53	0.010	.2505	.0820
AST (IU/L)	185	150	170	173	207	3.289	.0002	<.0001
ALT (IU/L)	9.96	7.48	8.79	9.30	14.52	0.744	.0015	.0006
LDH (IU/L)	154	153	143	163	189	5.652	.0018	.0035
Creatinine (mg/dL)	0.33	0.32	0.41	0.35	0.36	0.022	.3065	.2260
Urea (mg/dL)	7.28	6.99	6.96	6.69	6.88	0.054	.0002	.0105
TC (mg/dL)^c	233.35	251.85	237.65	199.50	257.10	4.786	.7833	.0234
TG (mg/dL)	227.50	219.50	215.35	225.95	236.15	6.241	.2756	.0621
HDL (mg/dL)	37.27	50.82	55.33	45.93	39.26	2.153	.8981	<.0001
LDL (mg/dL)	150.58	157.13	139.25	108.39	170.61	3.856	.5302	<.0001
VLDL (mg/dL)	45.50	43.90	43.07	45.19	47.23	1.248	.2756	.0621
SOD (U/ml)^c	0.21	0.32	0.37	0.24	0.26	0.026	.8099	.0100
MDA (nmol/mL)	0.36	0.20	0.18	0.17	0.20	0.023	.0027	.0053
GPX (mg/dl)	0.22	0.33	0.39	0.23	0.23	0.034	.4837	.0098
IgG (mg/dl)	0.96	1.26	1.56	1.52	0.95	0.065	.3373	<.0001
IgM (mg/dl)	0.65	0.80	1.26	1.39	0.64	0.077	.0570	<.0001
Zinc (mg/dl)	57.50	65.00	91.50	66.50	76.50	3.233	.0038	.0039

^aStandard error means.

^bLinear and quadratic effects.

^cTP: total protein; Alb: albumin GLOB: globulin; A/G: albumin/ globulin ratio; AST: aspartate aminotransferase and ALT: alanine aminotransferase. LDH: lactate dehydrogenase.

TC: total cholesterol; TG: triglycerides; HDL: high density lipoprotein; LDL: low density lipoprotein; SOD: superoxide dismutase; GPX: glutathione peroxidase; MDA: malondialdehyde; IgG: immunoglobulin G; IgM: immunoglobulin M; VLDL: very-low-density lipoprotein.

Table 8. Caecal microbiota of growing Japanese quail as affected by biological nano zinc.

Items	Biological nano zinc levels (g/kg diet)					SEM^a	p Value^b
	0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4		linear	quadratic
Microbiological count (Log CFU/g)^c
TBC	5.88	6.05	5.11	6.05	5.30	0.013	<.0001	.4003
TYMC	5.59	5.83	4.89	5.77	5.14	0.041	.0001	.6472
Coliform	5.79	5.96	5.06	6.01	5.25	0.037	<.0001	.9828
E. coli	5.74	5.61	5.02	5.87	5.23	0.047	.0022	.0924
Lactic acid bacteria	5.73	6.04	5.86	6.00	5.29	0.042	.0001	<.0001
Enterococcus	5.75	5.87	4.95	5.82	5.17	0.046	<.0001	.2268
Salmonella	6.41	6.32	5.11	5.41	4.18	0.082	<.0001	.0416

^aStandard error means.

^bLinear and quadratic effects.

^cTBC: total bacterial count; TYMC: total yeasts and molds count.