{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T22:16:39Z","timestamp":1789683399034,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,23]],"date-time":"2023-10-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1698019200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Science &amp; Technology Development Fund of Egypt","award":["STDF-US-J102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["STDF-US-J102"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aims to examine the effects of supplementing male rabbit diets with nanoparticles of zinc oxide (Nano-ZnO) and Acacia nilotica fruit powder (ANFP) on production sustainability under hot climatic conditions. Eighty Californian male rabbits aged 40 days old (average body weight 738.5 \u00b1 11 g) were divided into four treatment groups and administered one of the following diets: control diet, Nano-ZnO (50 mg\/kg), ANFP (5 g\/kg), or a combination of Nano-ZnO (50 mg\/kg) and ANFP (5 g\/kg) for a period of 60 days. Each of the 20 rabbits used in a treatment was regarded as a replicate. The results showed that adding Nano-ZnO and ANFP individually or in combination to rabbits\u2019 diets improved (p &lt; 0.05) growth performance in comparison to control. In addition, zinc contents in serum or the testis tissues in the Nano-ZnO- and ANFP-treated rabbits were significantly greater (p &lt; 0.05) than those in the control group. In addition, serum levels of creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase were decreased (p &lt; 0.05) by supplementation of Nano-ZnO, ANFP, or their combination. Carcass criteria did not differ among the treatments. Overall, the findings of the present study indicate that rabbits fed diets containing Nano-ZnO and ANFP, as well as their combination, showed improvements in growth performance, kidney and liver functions, as well as zinc retention in tissues under hot climatic conditions. The combination of Nano-ZnO and ANFP exhibited the best performance in the rabbits. More research on the synergistic effects of Nano-ZnO and ANFP in the sustainable production of rabbit meat is required.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani13203296","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,23]],"date-time":"2023-10-23T05:54:35Z","timestamp":1698040475000},"page":"3296","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Effects of Dietary Acacia nilotica Fruit, Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and Their Combination on Productive Performance, Zinc Retention, and Blood Biochemistry of Rabbits"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ahmed A. A.","family":"Abdel-Wareth","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt"},{"name":"Cooperative Agricultural Research Center, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hazem G. M.","family":"El-Sayed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Center for Food and Feed, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12619, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdel-Wahab A.","family":"Abdel-Warith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saudi University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9811-0918","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elsayed M.","family":"Younis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saudi University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hamdi A.","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Afifi S.","family":"Afifi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1836-7578","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ghadir A.","family":"El-Chaghaby","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Center for Food and Feed, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12619, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sayed","family":"Rashad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Center for Food and Feed, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12619, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8349-0425","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shimaa A.","family":"Amer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jayant","family":"Lohakare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooperative Agricultural Research Center, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"502","article-title":"Effects of Khaya senegalensis leaves on performance, carcass traits, hemtological and biochemical parameters in rabbits","volume":"13","author":"Hammad","year":"2014","journal-title":"Excli J."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/S0301-6226(02)00091-X","article-title":"Rabbits\u2019 productive, reproductive and physiological performance traits as affected by heat stress: A review","volume":"78","author":"Marai","year":"2002","journal-title":"Livest. Prod. Sci."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"410","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aninu.2018.02.004","article-title":"Thyme oil inclusion levels in a rabbit ration: Evaluation of productive performance, carcass criteria and meat quality under hot environmental conditions","volume":"4","author":"Taha","year":"2018","journal-title":"Anim. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"257","article-title":"Effect of temperature-humidity index (THI) on the performance of rabbits (Oryctolaguscuniculus) in the humid tropics","volume":"66","author":"Asemota","year":"2017","journal-title":"Arch. De Zootec."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ja\u00e9n-T\u00e9llez, J.A., S\u00e1nchez-Guerrero, M.J., Valera, M., and Gonz\u00e1lez-Redondo, P. (2021). Influence of stress assessed through infrared thermography and environmental parameters on the performance of fattening rabbits. Animals, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/ani11061747"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1017\/S1357729800054394","article-title":"Reproductive traits of male rabbits as affected by climatic conditions, in the subtropical environment of Egypt","volume":"77","author":"Marai","year":"2003","journal-title":"Anim. Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Suttle, N.F. (2010). The Mineral Nutrition of Livestock, CABI Publishing. [4th ed.].","DOI":"10.1079\/9781845934729.0000"},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"1","article-title":"Use of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the growing rabbit diets to mitigate hot environmental conditions for sustainable production and improved meat quality","volume":"18","author":"Amer","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"679S","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.110.005744","article-title":"Zinc: An essential but elusive nutrient","volume":"94","author":"King","year":"2011","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"128","article-title":"Trials on metal enriched Spirulina platensis supplementation on poultry growth","volume":"4","author":"Pandav","year":"2015","journal-title":"Glob. J. Bio. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"367","article-title":"Effect of zinc deficiency on zinc and carbohydrate metabolism in genetically diabetic (C57BL\/Ksj Db+\/Db+) and non-diabetic original strain (C57BL\/Ksj) mice","volume":"34","author":"Kechrid","year":"2004","journal-title":"Turk. J. Med. Sci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"612","DOI":"10.1186\/s11671-017-2383-3","article-title":"Nano-Se assimilation and action in poultry and other monogastric animals: Is gut microbiota an answer?","volume":"12","author":"Surai","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nanoscale Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"69","article-title":"Zinc is an essential element for male fertility: A review of Zn roles in men\u2019s health, germination, sperm quality, and fertilization","volume":"19","author":"Fallah","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Reprod. Infertil."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S134","DOI":"10.1177\/15648265100312S206","article-title":"A review of phytate, iron, zinc, and calcium concentrations in plant-based complementary foods used in low-income countries and implications for bioavailability","volume":"31","author":"Gibson","year":"2010","journal-title":"Food Nutr. Bull."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.4995\/wrs.2017.5770","article-title":"Effect of dietary organic zinc sources on growth performance, incidence of diarrhoea, serum and tissue zinc concentrations, and intestinal morphology in growing rabbits","volume":"25","author":"Yan","year":"2017","journal-title":"World Rabbit. Sci."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hassan, F., Mobarez, S., Mohamed, M., Attia, Y., Mekawy, A., and Mahrose, K. (2021). Zinc and\/or selenium enriched spirulina as antioxidants in growing rabbit diets to alleviate the deleterious impacts of heat stress during summer season. Animals, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/ani11030756"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114532","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anifeedsci.2020.114532","article-title":"Effect of nano-ZnO, compared to ZnO and Zn-methionine, on performance, nutrient status, rumen fermentation, blood enzymes, ferric reducing antioxidant power and immunoglobulin G in sheep","volume":"267","author":"Alijani","year":"2020","journal-title":"Anim. Feed. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.21608\/zvjz.2017.7949","article-title":"Growth performance, serum biochemical, economic evaluation and IL6 gene expression in growing rabbits fed diets supplemented with zinc nanoparticles","volume":"45","author":"Hassan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Zagazig Vet. J."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abdalla, A.A., Mustafa, M.I., and Makhawi, A.M. (2020). Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activities studies of Acacia nilotica fruit cover. bioRxiv.","DOI":"10.1101\/2020.02.11.943456"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.21608\/ejchem.2019.18863.2160","article-title":"Antidiabetic, Antihyperlipidemic and Antioxidant Activities of Acacia albida in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetes in Rats and its Metabolites","volume":"63","author":"Garra","year":"2020","journal-title":"Egypt. J. Chem."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.21608\/ejabf.2019.57884","article-title":"Assessment of phytochemical components, proximate composition and antioxidant properties of Scenedesmus obliquus, Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis algae extracts","volume":"23","author":"Rashad","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Aquat. Biol. Fish."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"46","article-title":"Phytochemical screening, antioxidant and in vivo antiplasmodial activities of Acacia gourmaensis A. RICH. (Mimosaceae)","volume":"7","author":"Bangou","year":"2019","journal-title":"Biol. Sci. Pharm. Res."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Institute, S. (2009). SAS\/GRAPH 9.2: Graph Template Language User\u2019s Guide, SAS Institute."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7450","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sjbs.2021.08.045","article-title":"The effect of ZnO nanoparticles on rabbit spermatozoa motility and viability parameters in vitro","volume":"28","author":"Halo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Saudi J. Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rasha, E., Monerah, A., Manal, A., Rehab, A., Mohammed, D., and Doaa, E. (2021). Biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles from Acacia nilotica (L.) extract to overcome carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Molecules, 26.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules26071919"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1369","DOI":"10.21608\/zjar.2017.52939","article-title":"Effect of dietary protein levels and zinc supplementation on growth performance, digestibility, blood constituents and carcass traits of growing rabbits","volume":"44","author":"Elsisi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Zagazig J. Agric. Res."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"King, J., and CL, K. (1999). Chapter 11. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, Williams & Wilkins. [9th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"151","article-title":"Effect of zinc supplementation on some physiological and growth traits in local male rabbit","volume":"6","author":"Amen","year":"2016","journal-title":"Vet. J."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Abdel-Wareth, A.A., Al-Kahtani, M.A., Alsyaad, K.M., Shalaby, F.M., Saadeldin, I.M., Alshammari, F.A., Mobashar, M., Suleiman, M.H., Ali, A.H., and Taqi, M.O. (2020). Combined supplementation of nano-zinc oxide and thyme oil improves the nutrient digestibility and reproductive fertility in the male Californian rabbits. Animals, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/ani10122234"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpba.2011.05.019","article-title":"Strong antioxidant phenolics from Acacia nilotica: Profiling by ESI-MS and qualitative\u2013quantitative determination by LC\u2013ESI-MS","volume":"56","author":"Maldini","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"1","article-title":"Protective effect of Acacia nilotica (L.) against acetaminophen-induced hepatocellular damage in wistar rats","volume":"2013","author":"Kannan","year":"2013","journal-title":"Adv. Pharmacol. Pharm. Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6807","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-017-8396-8","article-title":"Palliative effects of extra virgin olive oil, gallic acid, and lemongrass oil dietary supplementation on growth performance, digestibility, carcass traits, and antioxidant status of heat-stressed growing New Zealand White rabbits","volume":"24","author":"Daader","year":"2017","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.21608\/ejrs.2016.42067","article-title":"Effect of dietary addition of zinc enriched spirulina on growth and physiological performance in growing rabbits","volume":"26","author":"Amer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Egypt. J. Rabbit. Sci."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"57","article-title":"High dietary levels of zinc for young rabbits","volume":"48","year":"2015","journal-title":"Slovak J. Anim. Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114333","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anifeedsci.2019.114333","article-title":"Effect of an in-vivo and\/or in-meat application of a liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) extract on fattening rabbits live performance, carcass traits and meat quality","volume":"260","author":"Celia","year":"2020","journal-title":"Anim. Feed. Sci. Technol."}],"container-title":["Animals"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/13\/20\/3296\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T21:10:11Z","timestamp":1760130611000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/13\/20\/3296"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,23]]},"references-count":35,"journal-issue":{"issue":"20","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10]]}},"alternative-id":["ani13203296"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ani13203296","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-2615"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-2615","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,23]]}}}