Effect of Melia azedarach seed mediated nano-ZnO on growth performance, protein utilisation efficiency, haematology and nutritional status in pigs

Abstract

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of Melia azedarach seed-mediated ZnO nanoparticles on growth performance, protein utilisation efficiency, haematology and nutritional status in pigs. A total of 48 pigs were allocated to the following six treatments replicated 8 times: Negative Control (NC, No antibiotic), Treatment 2: Positive control (PC) given a conventional antibiotic (Oxytetracycline, 40 mg/kg feed); Treatment 3: Nano-ZnO 300 mg/L (N300ZnO), Treatment 4: Group given 150 mg/L Melia azedarach seed mediated nano-ZnO (N150MA), Treatment 5: Group given 300 mg/L Melia azedarach seed mediated nano-ZnO (N300MA), Treatment 6: Group given 450 mg/L Melia azedarach seed mediated nano-ZnO (N450MA). The experiment was conducted over 7 weeks. Melia azedarach seed-mediated ZnO nanoparticles had no significant effect on growth performance apart from average daily feed intake (ADFI) with treatment 3 having the highest value. It significantly affected protein consumption and growth efficiency but not protein efficiency ratio and specific growth rate. Melia azedarach seed-mediated ZnO nanoparticles had no significant impact on nutritional parameters, serum minerals apart from phosphorus which can negatively affect renal functioning.