The nutritional effect of diet containing decorticated sesame seed extracte
d with isopropanol (DSS-Iso) was evaluated on growth performance, food effi
ciency ratio, plasma and tissue lipid,profile, plasma protein content, and
erythrocyte membrane lipid profile of rats on a comparative basis with diet
s containing casein (control), soybean meal, and decorticated sesame seed e
xtracted with hexane (DSS-Hex). Rats fed a DSS-Iso-based diet showed body w
eight gain and food efficiency ratio similar to those of the control groups
fed diets prepared with casein, soybean meal, and DSS-Hex. However, dietar
y proteins exerted a separate effect on plasma lipid concentrations of the
rats. Rats fed a DSS-Iso-based diet showed significant decreases in plasma
total cholesterol (p < 0.01), triglyceride (p < 0.01), and VLDL + LDL chole
sterol (p < 0.01) concentrations in comparison to the rats fed diet contain
ing casein. No significant differences in plasma lipid concentrations were
observed for the rats fed diets prepared with soybean meal, DSS-Hex, and DS
S-Iso. Rats fed the different dietary proteins did not show much variation
in plasma proteins, liver lipids, and erythrocyte membrane lipid concentrat
ions, which suggests that DSS-Iso could be a suitable edible protein like c
asein or soybean meal.