Livestock Studies 2014, Vol 54, Num, 1     (Pages: 039-045)

Approaches to using of maca (lepidium meyenii) plant as a feed additive

Serol KORKMAZ 1 ,Tanay BİLAL 2

1 Gıda Tarım ve Hayvancılık Bakanlığı Pendik İlçe Müdürlüğü, Pendik, İstanbul
2 İstanbul Üniversitesi, Veteriner Fakültesi, Hayvan Besleme ve Beslenme Hastalıkları AD, Avcılar, İstanbul
- Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a tuber root plant of the Brassicaceae family that grows on Andes mountain`s high altitude steps. Its tuber roots have rich nutrition contents and bioactive compounds as sterols, glucosinolates, alkaloids, alkamides (macaene, macamides), saponin and tanin. Beside of its traditional usage, the studies in recent years presented its capabilities that are energizer, aphrodisiac, improving reproduction, hormonal balancing, improving homeostasis, antioksidant, anticarcinogen and antistress. When Maca was used as a dietary additive at the many researches in humans and animals, no toxic effect was determined. Further studies are required to identify the compounds of Maca, their chemical structures, the mechanism of action and to use of Maca as a safe and natural feed additive in animal nutrition. Keywords : Maca, Lepidium meyenii, Feed additive