Maca tuber meal is used in ¢sh diet formulations in Andean trout culture and knowledge of its e¡ects on ¢sh growth is paramount to healthy human food production. In the ¢rst experiment with rainbow trout alevins (0.096 AE 0.002 g), starter diets were o¡ered from ¢rst feeding until 15 weeks.We formulated high protein content ($60%) semi-puri¢ed starter diets supplemented with 0%, 5%, 10%, or 15% maca tuber meal (control, M-5, M-10, and M-15 respectively). The second feeding trial was conducted with juveniles (1.56 AE 0.02 g) fed one of three diets (control, M-15, and commercial) for 8 weeks. In the ¢rst experiment, ¢sh fed M-10 and M-15 diets exhibited signi¢cantly higher growth rates than the other dietary groups. Survival was signi¢cantly improved in the groups fed diets supplemented with maca tuber meal (60.06 9.2%) in comparison with the group fed a control diet (21.7%). The second experiment showed a higher growth rate in the M-15 group compared with the control and a commercial diet fed group. Leucocyte numbers were increased by dietary supplementation of maca tuber meal. The ¢ndings of the present study suggest that a maca tuber meal inclusion at least 5% improves growth rate, feed utilization, immunity by increased leucocyte number, and survival of rainbow trout alevins and juveniles. Aquaculture Research, 2004, 35, 215^223 r 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 215 Ã Values (AE SD) having di¡erent superscripts are signi¢cantly di¡erent (Po0.05).wWeight gain (%) 5 [(¢nal weight À initial weight) Â 100]/initial weight. zFeed conversion ratio 5 dry feed intake (g)/wet body weight gain (g). ‰Protein e⁄ciency ratio 5 body weight gain (g)/protein intake (g). zSpeci¢c growth rate (%) 5 [(ln ¢nal weight À ln initial weight) Â 100]/days. kInstantaneous feed intake (%) 5 [dry feed intake (g) Â 100]/body weight (g).Aquaculture Research, 2004, 35, 215^223 Supplementation of maca meal in rainbow trout diet K-J Lee et al.

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