Nutritive Value of Wild Pea (Pisum elatius) Seed as a Dietary Protein Source for Fingerlings of Mirror Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Wild pea (Pisum elatius) seed was examined as a dietary protein source for mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings in an 80-day laboratory growth trial. Raw or heat-treated Pisum elatius seed was included in fishmeal and soybean meal based diets at levels of 10%, 20%, 30%, or 40% and growth parameters were compared to those in fish fed a diet containing no P. elatius. Weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and protein efficiency ratio in fish fed diets containing 10-30% heat-treated seed, or 10% raw seed, were similar to control fish and significantly better than in fish fed other diets. Fish fed diets containing 40% heat-treated or 20-40% raw seed had significantly reduced growth performance compared to those fed the control. Fish fed diets containing 20-40% raw P. elatius seed had significantly lower whole body fat content than fish fed other diets. Results show that raw and heat-treated P. elatius seed has potential as an alternative feed ingredient in diets for fingerling mirror carp with no adverse effect. Raw seed can be used up to 10% but P. elatius seed should be heat-treated if inclusion rates are to exceed 10%.