Abstract: Ninty-six weaned New Zealand white rabbits were divided into four groups randomly, among which the control were fed with basic diet and the other three were treated with basic diet added with 2%, 5% or 8% pawpaw, respectively. The results showed that during the earlier 30 days, daily gain and intake index of three trial groups were higher than that of the control, but there was no significant difference in ratios of feed/gain. During the later 30 days, compared to the control group, daily gains of three treatments improved remarkably, but the index of intake and feed/gain showed no significant difference. In comparison with the control， the contents of serum cholesterol of three trial groups improved remarkably, and the index of total protein of Group Ⅲ markedly improved while those of Group I were on the opposite trend. However, the total globulin， IgG， IgA and IgM did not make a difference. In conclusion, addition of pawpaw in basic diet could improve the production performance of meat rabbits, and the optimal level of pawpaw was 5%；meanwhile, addition of pawpaw had a promotive effect on immunity of meat rabbits.

Key words: pawpaw, New Zealand white rabbit, production performance, biochemistry and immune index