**1. Introduction**

Mineral nutrition is an indispensible part of animal feeding system which ensures optimum health, production, and reproduction in animals and birds. Even though, required in small quantities as compared to other nutrients such as energy and protein, their deficiency and imbalances are promptly reflected in the changes of animal wellbeing and their production. Sometimes, this may also cost the animals with their lives. They are essential for maintaining the normal health and productions; whereas in some cases additional supplementation could yield better growth and egg production. The significance of mineral nutrition is well documented and still new projects are undertaken to understand, explore better aspects and validate newer postulates associated in the field of mineral nutrition.

Conventionally, minerals are used in the diets through their inorganic salts, but low bioavailability of inorganic mineral salts necessitates using at higher doses in order to meet the animal requirements, which indirectly creates more pollution with minerals [1]. Recently, nano-sized minerals are considered to have greater bioavailability in animals and birds due to increased surface area, which tend to produce better desirable responses [2]. This chapter discusses synthesis of different nano-minerals, their mechanism of action, poultry performance, tissue retention, immunity, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial actions compared with their conventional mineral sources.

### **2. Importance of mineral nutrition in biological system**

Minerals are vital for all biochemical functions in the body along with providing structural supports, electrolyte balance and homeostasis. The requirements of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) in animals and poultry are comparatively greater than other minerals. They are mainly needed for bone development [3]. Zinc (Zn) is essential for several physiological and biochemical processes such as normal growth, reproduction, wound healing, ossification, DNA synthesis, cell division and gene expression, photochemical processes of vision, and augmenting the immune system of the body through lymphocyte replication and antibody production [1–4]. Selenium (Se) is essential for optimum animal production, fertility, and disease prevention [3]. However, role of Se in intra- and extra-cellular antioxidant systems is vividly recognized [5], which, as a component of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) neutralizes hydrogen and lipid hydroperoxide and thus maintains membrane integrity and guards from oxidative damage of lipid membranes [1]. Copper (Cu) is essential for normal growth, bone development, immune response, foetal development, nerve functioning, and in antioxidant system as a part or a cofactor of several enzymes [1]. Manganese (Mn) is an essential trace mineral necessary for optimum antioxidant, immune system as well as a component on several important enzymes [2]. Likewise, iron (Fe) is needed for synthesis of hemoglobin, which transports oxygen in the body and myoglobin, and is also associated with enzymes, e.g., peroxidases, hydroxylases, and catalase. Chromium (Cr) is a component of glucose tolerance factor and is essential for maintaining immune and antioxidant function and metabolism of lipids and proteins [6]. Combining all the effects together, minerals are associated with all the physiological functions in the body either involved directly or indirectly. Hence, a diet balanced in all the minerals is always a matter to maximize the productivity and health of the animals.

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**4. Nano-minerals: synthesis**

*Essential Nanominerals and Other Nanomaterials in Poultry Nutrition and Production*

without affecting the animal or bird productivity at a cost effective manner. Recently, nano-sized minerals are considered as a potential alternate to fill the gap and they have been tried and tested in many ways to validate their better bioavailability in diversified animals and birds. Nanotechnology confers the materials with particle size in nanometer (nm) range (<100 nm) at least in one direction, and by virtue of the nano-sized particle (NP), their structures exhibit significantly novel physical, chemical, and biological properties and functionality [18]. Due to their small size, the surface area increases many folds and thus they tend to produce many desirable responses [2]. The altered chemical and physical properties of NP could potentially modify the biological responses compared to its bulk materials [2, 19]. Studies have been carried out across the globe to unveil more beneficial effects as a feed additive in animals and birds, but still nanotechnology is in its infancy in the animal husbandry sector. In this chapter, we have tried to compile the

various effects of the nano-minerals and other nano-materials in poultry.

Nanotechnology deals with research and development related to nano-sized materials, and are specifically focused at understanding of measurement and

The minerals are present in all the food and feed sources as an integral part, but the amount required to support the productivity is not met through the feed resources. Added to this, the mineral component from plants are less absorbed and retained in the body as they form complex compounds with other components. For an instance, plant ingredients in the diets contain large amounts of unavailable P as phytates, which accounts almost 60–80% of total P and are not absorbed by the birds due to insufficiency of phytase enzyme [7]. Again, the bioavailability of minerals from traditional inorganic sources is relatively less for many minerals, while the requirements for high producing animals and birds are very high [8]. This necessitates the addition of minerals in the diets from extraneous sources [1, 9, 10], which gives the concepts of minerals as feed supplements in animal and poultry rearing. Minerals are generally supplemented in higher concentrations than their actual needs at cellular levels when inorganic supplements are added due to their poor bioavailability [11] along with chemical antagonism and interactions with other nutrients [12]. Conventionally, minerals are supplemented in the diets in their inorganic salts — oxides, sulphates, or carbonates — for instance, Zn oxide, Zn sulphate, sodium selenite, Ca carbonate, and dicalcium phosphate (DCP). The low bioavailable inorganic mineral salts supplemented at higher doses in order to meet the animal requirements, indirectly creates more pollution with minerals [1, 9, 10]. This issues needs to be addressed and better bioavailable mineral sources are a thrust of mineral studies for many decades. Many organic chelated minerals have been tried to fill the gap and reports indicated mixed responses considering their bioavailability, cost effectiveness and biological responses. Organic minerals as proteinate supplemented retained better in poultry signified better bioavailability as compared to their inorganic counterparts [13, 14]. Organic mineral supplementation has shown varied type of response in layers. For example, Rajendran et al. [15] reported improvement in laying percentage of birds, whereas Soni et al. [16] did not observed any effect on egg production by feeding organic minerals. In spite of better bioavailability of organic minerals over their inorganic counterparts, these sources are less used due to their higher cost [17]. This necessitates the urgent requirement for better bioavailable sources to be used particularly in poultry production to save guard the environment

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96013*

**3. Sources of minerals**

*Essential Nanominerals and Other Nanomaterials in Poultry Nutrition and Production DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96013*
