Nigella sativa (black cumin seed) as a biological detoxifier in diet contaminated with aflatoxin B1

Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) is a common feed contaminant that adversely affects bird performance and product quality. A total of 600 7‐day‐old quail chicks were randomly allotted to eight experimental groups in a completely randomized design with five replicate pens and 15 quails per pen. Experimental treatments including two levels of AFB₁ (0 and 2.5 mg/kg) and 4 levels of Nigella sativa (NS) (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% of diet) were offered from 7 to 35 days of age to quail chicks. Although feeding of AFB₁ impaired gain (G) and feed conversion ratio, dietary NS increased G (p < 0.05). Relative weight of bursa of Fabricius increased with incremental levels of NS (p < 0.05). AFB₁ decreased the size of heart, but incremental levels of NS increased the relative weight of heart (p < 0.05). The liver hypertrophy was observed in birds receiving AFB₁ (p < 0.05). The birds in AFB₁ group had smaller testes than other groups (p < 0.05). Hematocrit value in birds fed AFB₁ was lower than that in other groups (p < 0.05) and incremental levels of NS increased blood hematocrit (p < 0.05). Amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) in meat samples of the birds fed AFB₁ was higher than those did not receive toxin but incremental levels of NS decreased the MDA concentration in affected birds (p < 0.05). AFB₁ suppressed the humoral immunity of the birds while NS augmented the antibody titres against sheep red blood cell and Newcastle disease virus antigens (p < 0.05). AFB₁ decreased lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and spore‐forming bacteria (SFB) but increased Escherichia coli (E. coli; p < 0.05). However, NS increased LAB and SFB but decreased the E. coli populations (p < 0.05). This study revealed that NS as a biological detoxifier could relatively attenuate the negative effects of AFB₁ in quails.     

Comparison of the effects of nano-iron fertilizer with iron-chelate on growth parameters and some biochemical properties of Catharanthus roseus

Nanofertilizers, which supply nutrients to the plant, are used to replace conventional fertilizers. Iron (Fe) is one of the essential elements for plant growth and plays an important role in the photosynthetic reactions. To study the effects of nano-iron fertilizer on Catharanthus roseus, plants were treated with different concentrations (0, 5 10 20, 30, and 40 mM) of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3) for 70 days. Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles increased growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, and total protein contents in the treated plants significantly. The maximum amounts of growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, and protein contents were obtained with 30 µM Fe₂O₃ and minimum values of these parameters were found with 0 µM Fe₂O₃. The highest value of total alkaloid content was obtained in 0 µM Fe₂O₃ and the lowest value was observed in control plants. Iron oxide nanoparticles increased potassium, phosphorus, and iron absorption but did not show a significant effect on sodium content.