Poultry Studies 2014, Vol 11, Num, 2     (Pages: 016-20)

Silver Nanoparticles and Studies on Using in Poultry Nutrition

M. Akif ÖZCAN 1

1 Ordu Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi, Ordu - The use of colloidal silver as an antibiotic was becoming widespread until the 1940s. However, with the discovery of antibiotics, usage of colloidal silver had been reduced because of being expensive. The fact that bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics lead to prohibiton the usage of antibiotics in poultry diets as growth promoters. Based on these developments reuse of colloidal silver has been raised as an alternative to antibiotics. Without prejudice to the beneficial enzymes, colloidal silver disables certain enzymes needed by bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and fungus resulting in the destruction of these enzymes. It is reported that increase in surface area of nano-particles of silver increase antibacterial activity. The most important limitation on the widespread use of silver nanoparticles as feed additives is uncertainty about the possible toxic effects. In this review, studies for the use of colloidal silver particles in poultry feed were evaluated and tried to seek answer the question `may be a new resource that can be used as an alternative to antibiotics? Keywords : Antibitic, poultry, colloidal silver, nanoparticles