Pea protein concentrate substituting fish meal or soybean meal in diets for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)-Effect on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass composition, gut health, and physical feed quality

The effect of pea protein concentrate in diets for Atlantic salmon on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass composition, blood chemistry, histology of the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT), and physical feed quality was investigated. A 12-week study was conducted using triplicate groups of Atlantic salmon with 0.16 kg initial weight kept in seawater. The dietary treatments consisted of one control diet based on high-quality fish meal (FM diet), one control diet containing 200 g kg(-1) soybean meal (SBM diet), and two experimental diets containing 200 g kg(-1) pea protein concentrate with either 350 or 500 g kg-1 crude protein (PPC 35% CP and PPC 50% CP diet), substituting for fish meal protein. There were no significant differences among dietary treatments for weight gain or feed intake, but there was a tendency (P