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The deacetylation of chitin results in chitosan, a fibrous-like material. It may be produced in large quantities since the raw material (chitin) is plentiful in nature as a component of crustacean (shrimps and crabs) and insect hard outer skeletons, as well as the cell walls of some fungi. Chitosan is a nontoxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible polygluchitosanamine that contains two essential reactive functional groups, including amino and hydroxyl groups. This unique chemical structure confers chitosan with many biological functions and activities such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antitumor, immunostimulatory and hypocholesterolemic, when used as a feed additive for farm animals. Studies have indicated the beneficial effects of chitosan on animal health and performance, aside from its safer use as an antibiotic alternative. This review aimed to highlight the effects of chitosan on animal health and performance when used as a promising feed additive.

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Contemporary farming and competitive market conditions are forcing nutritionists and physiologists to seek unconventional ways to upgrade rabbits' performance. Among these, feed additives such as antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and immune modulators might be a good alternative to increase weight gain, improve feed efficiency, superior physiological functions of the body, and boost immune responses.Chitosan is one of the natural feed additives. It is derived from chitin, a polysaccharide formed by N-acetyl-D glucosamine units found in insects, marine diatoms, algae, fungi, and crustacea, through deacetylation, demineralization deproteinization, and decolouration (Synowiecki & Al-Khateeb, 2003;Abd El-Hack et al., 2020Abd El-Aziz et al., 2022). Previous studies have shown that chitosan as a dietary supplement in animal feed improved the digestive system performance by absorbing accumulated toxins and treating chronic constipation and gastrointestinal ulcers. In addition, it reduced the absorption of cholesterol from the diet. Therefore, in the future, chitosan may have wider uses, such as a feed additive, to improve the productive and reproductive performance of

The widespread prevalence of food pollutants seriously threatens human and animal health. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites primarily formed by toxigenic fungal genera, including Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Alternaria, demonstrating one of the principal pollutants in diets or feed products. Mycotoxin contamination in food can harm health, including stunted development, immune system suppression, infertility, vomiting, and gastrointestinal and cancerous conditions. These effects can occur both acutely and chronically. The complex food chain can be contaminated with mycotoxins at any point, including during harvest, industrial processing, shipping, or storage, putting the food sector under societal pressure owing to the waste generated by infected goods. One of the biological controls of mycotoxin is provided by probiotics and prebiotics, controlled as foods and dietary supplements made of bacteria or yeast. Aflatoxin's bioavailability and gastrointestinal absorption can be reduced using various probiotics and prebiotics.