author(s)
Wasave SS, H Singh and Wasave SM

abstract
The potential of cashew nut, Anacardium occidentale L., by-products as partial fish meal alternative in diets for post-larvae of Macrobrachium rosenbergiiwas evaluated. The Cashew nut byproducts - testa was characterized with respect to proximate, mineral, and energy profile. The crude protein, crude fiber, fat and ash contents were, in g kg⁻¹ 190.0, 103.0, 20.1, and 20.2, respectively, with metabolizable energy of 7.12 MJ kg⁻¹. The experiment was conducted in triplicate for the period of 60 days. In a feeding trial, diets containing cashew nut testa at the rate 0, 1.52, 3.04, 6.08 and 12.16% (designated as control, T₁, T₂, T₃, and T₄) of fish meal protein replacement were tested for growth parameters and survival for the post larvae of M. rosenbergii. The length gain was greater (73.97%) with T₂ diet and lower (43.48%) in post-larvae fed with T₄ diet. The superior growth performance of weight gain (384.76%) and highest specific growth rate (2.62%) was observed in post-larvae of M. rosenbergii fed with T₂ diet. The maximum survival was 59.17% with T₂ diet while post-larvae fed with T₁ diet showed the minimum survival of 44.17%. Among all the test diets, post-larvae fed with 3.04% cashew testa powder incorporated diet showed significantly higher weight gain, specific growth rate and survival. It can be concluded that, 3.04% of cashew testa could be incorporated in the diet of the post-larvae of M. rosenbergii against the fishmeal to achieve better weight gain and specific growth. But to achieve better survival percentage of the post-larvae of M. rosenbergii future investigations needs to be focus on the anti-nutritive factors of the cashew testa.