Effects of Fermented Sesame Meal on the Performance, Serum Biochemical Parameters and Intestinal Morphology of Ducks

Abstract

A trial was performed to study the effect of feeding a diet containing solid-state fermentation sesame meal (FSM) replaced soybean meal (SBM) on the growth performance and serum biochemistry parameters of ducks. The amount of FSM required to replace the proportion of soybean meal in diet was determined. 90% sesame meal and 10% slurry of corn were mixed and then inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis. Over the 14-day fermentation, dietary phytate was reduced from 0.62% to 0.05%. A total of 360 twenty-one-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were randomly allocated into 3 dietary treatments, with 4 replicate groups per treatment containing 30 ducks. In three treatment groups, fermentation sesame meal replaced soybean meal at 0, 3% or 6%, respectively. At the end of 21 day feeding trial, 10 ducks from each treatment were killed. Their dressing percentage was recorded. Duodenal, jejunal, and ileal segments of the small intestine were collected for intestinal morphology, and serum was collected for biochemical constituents. Results showed that the daily gain and feed conversion ratio of ducks fed 3% or 6% FSM were similar with those fed SBM (P>0.05). Total phosphorus content in the serum from the FSM groups was improved (P<0.01). Total protein content in the serum from the 6% FSM group was lower than that in the 0 and 3% FSM treatment groups (P<0.05). Concentrations of IgG were Significant higher for animals fed 6% FSM than for those fed SBM (P<0.05). In comparison for whole SBM, FSM increased villus height (P<0.05) in the duodenum. Villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio in the jejuna of ducks fed FSM were also markedly higher than for those fed SBM (P<0.01). There were no effects of FSM on the duck's ileum mucosa morphology, or eviscerated index and half eviscerated index. Therefore, it was concluded that sesame meal fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis is a promising alternative source of protein, and that fermented sesame meal can replace soybean meal in the diets of duck for potentially reduced production costs of duck.