Melody
Nov 23rd 2007, 07:23 PM
There's a Center for Duckweed Research & Development... I wouldn't have guessed that.:twitcy:
I read a great article about the nutritional benefits of Duckweed. The information I had before suggested that it wasn't a particularly good source of nutrition, albeit a decent source of vegetable protein. Turns out that the nutritional value depends on the conditions the duckweed is grown in. In fact, "Duckweed grown on nutrient-rich water has a high concentration of trace minerals, K and P and pigments, particularly carotene and xanthophyll..."
It is also highly digestible, "Compared with most plants, duckweed leaves have little fibre (5% in dry matter of cultivated plants) as they do not need to support upright structures. Roots, however, appear to be more fibrous. As a result the plant has little or no indigestible material even for monogastric animals. This contrasts with many crops such as soya beans, rice, or maize, where approximately 50% of the biomass is in the form of high fibre, low digestibility residues."
What's more, the protein in Duckweed is special. Its a vegetable protein which closely resembles animal protein, making it highly digestible and easily utilized by fish at the bio level.
The conditions required to grow duckweed of maximum nutritional value are included in the article.
Duckweed - a potential high-protein feed resource for domestic animals and fish (http://www.fao.org/AG/aga/AGAP/FRG/FEEDback/lrrd/lrrd7/1/3.htm)
R A Leng, J H Stambolie and R Bell
Centre for Duckweed Research & Development University of New England Armidale, NSW 2351
I love finding university studies/articles. They are very informative and a reliable source of information. The lack of marketing hype & bias is refreshing to the nth degree.:smile:
I read a great article about the nutritional benefits of Duckweed. The information I had before suggested that it wasn't a particularly good source of nutrition, albeit a decent source of vegetable protein. Turns out that the nutritional value depends on the conditions the duckweed is grown in. In fact, "Duckweed grown on nutrient-rich water has a high concentration of trace minerals, K and P and pigments, particularly carotene and xanthophyll..."
It is also highly digestible, "Compared with most plants, duckweed leaves have little fibre (5% in dry matter of cultivated plants) as they do not need to support upright structures. Roots, however, appear to be more fibrous. As a result the plant has little or no indigestible material even for monogastric animals. This contrasts with many crops such as soya beans, rice, or maize, where approximately 50% of the biomass is in the form of high fibre, low digestibility residues."
What's more, the protein in Duckweed is special. Its a vegetable protein which closely resembles animal protein, making it highly digestible and easily utilized by fish at the bio level.
The conditions required to grow duckweed of maximum nutritional value are included in the article.
Duckweed - a potential high-protein feed resource for domestic animals and fish (http://www.fao.org/AG/aga/AGAP/FRG/FEEDback/lrrd/lrrd7/1/3.htm)
R A Leng, J H Stambolie and R Bell
Centre for Duckweed Research & Development University of New England Armidale, NSW 2351
I love finding university studies/articles. They are very informative and a reliable source of information. The lack of marketing hype & bias is refreshing to the nth degree.:smile: