Abstract: The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of supplemental selenium (Se) on growth performance and meat quality of broilers from 22 to 42 days of age.A total of 380 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were fed the same corn-soybean meal diet (containing 0.47 mg/kg Se) from 1 to 21 days of age.At 22 days of age,336 broilers with similar body weight were selected and randomly divided into 6 dietary treatments with 7 replicate cages of 8 broilers per cage for each treatment in a completely randomized design,and were fed a Se-unsupplemented corn-soybean meal basal diet (control group,containing 0.015 mg/kg Se) or the basal diet supplemented with 0.10,0.20,0.30,0.40 and 0.50 mg/kg Se from sodium selenite.The experiment lasted for 21 days.The results showed that supplemental different levels of Se had no effect on average daily gain,average daily feed intake and feed to gain ratio of broilers from 22 to 42 days of age (P>0.05).Supplemental different levels of Se had also no effect on the percentages of dressing,eviscerated yield,breast muscle,thigh muscle and abdominal fat of broilers at 42 days of age (P>0.05).Supplemental different levels of Se had significant effect on the shear force in thigh muscle and L^* value in breast muscle of broilers at 42 days of age (P<0.05).The addition of 0.50 mg/kg Se treatment group had the lowest shear force in thigh muscle,and the addition of 0.20 and 0.50 mg/kg Se treatment groups had the lowest L^* value in breast muscle.But supplemental Se level did not affect other indices of meat quality (P>0.05).In conclusion,supplemental different levels of Se had no significant effect on growth performance,carcass traits and most of meat quality indices in broilers fed corn-soybean meal diet from 22 to 42 days of age,however,dietary supplemental 0.50 mg/kg Se partly improved the shear force in thigh muscle and L^* value in breast muscle of broilers.

Key words: selenium; broiler; growth performance; carcass traits; meat quality