Utilisation of sesame (Sesamum indicum) seed meal in broiler chicken diets

1. Soybean meal (SBM) was replaced with sesame seed meal (SSM) at proportions of 0.00, 0-33, 0.67 and 1.00 on a protein basis in broiler diets (2 to 42 d of age). Each diet was fed to 8 replicates of 5 birds each. 2. Body weight gain, food efficiency, ready-to-cook (RTC) yield, relative weights of giblet, liver and abdominal fat were not affected by including SSM up to 0-67 proportion of SBM in starter and finisher diets (360 and 310 g/kg, respectively). The relation between level of SSM and growth performance variable (weight gain, food efficiency and RTC yield) was non-linear. 3. Weight, breaking strength and ash content of tibia decreased non-linearly with the proportion of SSM in diet. 4. The activity of alkaline phosphatase and protein concentration in serum decreased linearly with the amount of SSM in the diet.