Growth Performance, Feed Digestibility and Meat Selenium of Broilers Fed Fungi-Fermented Rice Bran with Addition of Inorganic Selenium

Abstract

Objective: A study was conducted to determine effects of fermented rice bran by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger with addition of selenium on growth performance, feed digestibility and meat selenium of broilers. Materials and Methods: A finely ground rice bran with addition of 0.1% sodium selenite was autoclaved at 20 psi for 20 min and added distilled water to meet 80% moisture content. The autoclaved substrate was fermented with Aspergillus niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 5 days to produce Aspergillus niger-fermented rice bran (ANFRB) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae-fermented rice bran (SCFRB) respectively. A total of 140 day-old-chicks were used and kept for 6 weeks. The birds were fed 5 experimental diets ad libitum. The experimental diets were basal diet (T1), Basal diet +0.4 ppm selenium from sodium selenite (T2), basal diet +0.4 ppm selenium from commercial organic selenium (T3), basal diet +0.4 ppm selenium from SCFRB (T4) and basal diet +0.4 selenium from ANFRB (T5). The study used a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 4 replications. Results: Birds fed the T2 diet had the lower body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, digestible dry matter intake, selenium intake and selenium digestibility. The birds fed the T3, T4 and T5 diets had higher concentration of meat selenium than those birds fed the T1 and T2 diets. Conclusion: Addition of fungi-fermented rice bran with additional sodium selenite in the diets improved the feeding values of diets as efficiently as commercial organic selenium-supplemented diet.