Nutritional value of feed peas (Pisum sativum) in practical diet formulations for Litopenaeus vannamei

Dry peas of mixed Canadian prairie varieties which were commercially obtained and processed to provide a variety of meals were evaluated in practical shrimp feeds. Whole and de‐hulled peas were pin milled to produce raw flours. A portion of these meals were processed to produce whole extruded and de‐hulled extruded meals. Additionally, a portion of the whole pea meal was processed by infrared cooking to produce a micronized meal. The five meals were evaluated in practical diets for Litopenaeus vannamei under controlled laboratory conditions. The first experiment was designed to estimate apparent protein and energy availability of the various meals. Using a practical reference diet, the meals were substituted using a 70:30 ratio to produce the test diets. Based on contrasts, both extruding and micronizing the pea meals resulted in significant improvements in both apparent protein digestibility and apparent energy digestibility values. Apparent energy digestibility values for the various ingredients expressed as percentage ± SD were: whole raw, 72.3 ± 8.1; whole extruded, 86.0 ± 8.9; de‐hulled raw, 88.4 ± 4.4; de‐hulled extruded, 94.4 ± 10.0; whole micronized, 94.1 ± 10.2. To evaluate the response of shrimp to the diets containing pea meal, two 7‐week growth trials were conducted in the laboratory using a practical diet formulated to contain 360 g kg^?1 protein and 90 g kg^?1 lipid. In the first growth trial the shrimp had a mean initial weight of 0.66 g and six test diets were evaluated that included the basal diet and five diets for which the pea meals were included in the diet at 250 g kg^?1 dry weight replacing whole wheat. In the second growth trial the shrimp had a mean initial weight of 1.1 g and only the whole raw and whole extruded meals were evaluated at 50, 100 and 200 g kg^?1 inclusion in the diet. At the conclusion of the first growth trial weight gain ranged from 718 to 862% and at the conclusion of the second growth trial weight gain ranged from 394 to 502%, with no significant differences or discernible trends observed as a result of the various dietary treatments. Based on the observed results, the continued evaluation of feed peas as a potential ingredient of shrimp feeds is warranted. Additionally, if feed peas are suitably priced, commercial producers are encouraged to evaluate feed peas as an alternative protein and energy source.