Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 93 (2): 207–211, February 2023/Article https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v93i2.124843 Nutrient utilization and carcass traits in broiler chickens as affected by nano-chromium supplementation RENU KUMARI 1* , ASHOKA KUMAR 1 , JYOTI PALOD 1 , B C MONDAL 1 and SANJAY SINGH 2 G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand 263 145 India Received: 16 June 2022; Accepted: 27 January 2023 ABSTRACT The present study was carried out to perceive the efects of dietary supplementation of nano-chromium on nutrient utilization and carcass traits in broiler chickens. For this, 120 unsexed day-old broiler chickens were procured and randomly allocated into four diferent treatment groups with three replicates in each. The control group (T 0 ) was fed with a standard basal diet as per BIS (2007). Treatment groups T 1 , T 2 , and T 3 were fed the basal diet with 400, 800, and 1600 ppb levels of nano-chromium, respectively for six weeks. Dry matter, crude protein, and total carbohydrate metabolizability were signifcantly improved in treatment groups T 2 and T 3; while organic matter and ether extract retention were found signifcantly higher in treatment groups T 1 , T 2 , and T 3 when compared with a control group. There was no signifcant diference in the yield of cut-up parts (% live body weight). The supplementation of nano- chromium did not bring any signifcant changes in processing loss i.e. blood, feather, head, and shank, but abdominal fat was signifcantly reduced with increasing levels of nano-chromium. Hence, it can be concluded that dietary supplementation of 1600 ppb nano-chromium in the diet of broiler chicken improved nutrient utilization and lowered abdominal fat in broiler chicken. Keywords: Abdominal fat, Cut-up parts, Nano-chromium, Nutrient metabolizability Present address: 1 G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. 2 College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Uttar Pradesh Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, * Corresponding author email: dr.renubijarniya@gmail.com Chromium has been identifed as a cardinal trace mineral that plays a pivotal role in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, along with protein synthesis (Sahin et al. 2010). More specifcally, it is thought to facilitate the activation of insulin through the glucose tolerance factor (Schwarz and Mertz 1959). Supplementation of diferent forms of chromium in the diet of broiler chickens has signifcantly increased the utilization of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and ether extract (Amatya et al. 2004). Chromium nanoparticles could boost bioavailability as well as absorption rate than other native chromium picolinate (CrPic) and CrCl 3 form in both livestock and poultry nutrition due to their novel properties such as great specifc surface area, high catalytic efciency and strong adsorbing ability (Zha et al. 2008, Lien et al. 2009). Benefcial efects of chromium nanoparticles on growth performance, body composition, and retention of chromium in tissues in selected muscles along with enhanced chromium digestibility and absorption were also noticed in rats (Zha et al. 2007, Lien et al. 2009). Supplementation of nano- chromium picolinate improved chromium and calcium accumulation in the liver and eggs; and also showed to improve zinc and manganese retention in laying chickens (Sirirat et al. 2012). It has potent hypocholesterolemic and antioxidant properties and has a useful impact on feed utilization, immune response, lean carcass quality, growth performance, and quality of egg (Farag et al. 2017). The potential applications of nano-particles (NPs) for increasing meat quantity and quality by decreasing disease overload can help the poultry industry (Anwar et al. 2019). The metabolic ability of crude protein and ether extracts was signifcantly increased in treatment groups of C. catla fngerlings which were fed 2 mg/kg and 1.5 mg/kg of nano- chromium, respectively (Hussain et al. 2019). However, the vast majority of the research on chromium in poultry has only documented the efects of inorganic chromium as CrCl 3 or organic chromium as chromium picolinate. This implies that the efect of nano-chromium on broiler performance, nutrient metabolizability, and carcass traits still needs to be explored. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to evaluate the efect of nano-chromium on nutrient metabolizability and carcass traits in poultry. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ethical statement of animal experiments: The procedures related to management and care of birds used in this experiments, and the procedures followed during the trial were aproved by the ‘Institutional Animal Ethics 87