duckweed - the search for a sustainable protein supplement for the future

8/20/2019 Duckweed - The search for a sustainable protein supplement for the future

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Q. From my very limited understanding of duckweed, it

seems as though it would have great potential as aqua and

terrestrial animal feed in general?

A.

Yes, while initial commercial marketing focus is on higher

value products, duckweed has been used to feed sh

and land animals for decades in integrated Asian farmer

settings. Researchers have been working with duckweed

for nearly fty years. We know its potential to remediate

wastewater and return a large volume of high protein

biomass and exceptionally clean water. This pathway

is seen as completing the nutrient cycle, a real boon to

sustainable production of plant protein for a wide variety ofuses including aqua and terrestrial animal feeds. I love this

quote by Peter Marshall: “Waste itself is a human concept.

Everything in nature is eventually used.” Duckweed can

help farmers mimic nature in this regard, and reap feed cost

savings whilst reusing fresh water over and over.

Q. What is the state of the duckweed industry?

A. Current applications include:

1. Using the decades-old model of Asian small farm settings to

recapture animal waste nutrient streams and use the resulting

duckweed biomass as a fresh feed for ducks, sh, and swine

for feed cost savings.

Companies are developing integrated systems including

CAFO waste streams for biomethane generation and

subsequent duckweed production to be used as fresh feed

supplements for cattle, swine, and chickens. (Each species

has maximum feed inclusion rates due to each animal’s

ability to process the high percentage of water in fresh

duckweed.) Dried duckweed meal can be substituted for soya

as a protein replacement in 10-30 percent inclusion rates,

depending on the animal.

2. As a processed shmeal replacement- lemna proteinconcentrate (LPC) for swine, production initially. LPC has

gone toe-to-toe with 68 percent soy protein concentrate and

found to produce comparable results. This is powerful given

duckweed’s ability to produce at least four times the amount

of protein per hectare versus that of soya, be GMO-free, and

remediate animal waste streams at the same time.

3. Along with GreenSun Products, several companies are

working with various strains of duckweed for human nutrition

Protein levels of as high at 50 percent and above are being

reported on a dry weight basis, with vitamin and mineral

content heralded as well above average for green leafy crops.

Additional benets include being non-GMO, gluten-free, and

organically produced. Be watching for both fresh and dried

products to hit store shelves within the next couple of years.

Q. What is the nutritional make up of duckweed?

A. While an older table, this one is fairly reliable as far as

ranges:

Organic composition in the Lemnaceae, % of dry weight

protein 6.8 — 45.0

lipid 1.8 — 9.2

crude ber 5.7 — 16.2

carbohydrate 14.1 — 43.6

ash 12.0 — 27.6

Ms Fakhoorian suggested that the feed industry investigatethe potential for duckweed’s nearly complete amino acid

prole as being as close to animal protein as the plant

kingdom can provide. In addition she provided this quote

from Dr John Cross, author of the richly-detailed website,

The Charms of Duckweed . The protein content of duckweeds

is one of the highest in the plant kingdom, but it is dependent

on growth conditions. Typically duckweeds are rich in

leucine, threonine, valine, isoleucine and phenylalanine.

They tend to be low in cysteine, methionine, and tyrosine.”

Q. What is the state of its current usage in the livestock feed

industry? How do you believe this could be expanded?

A. Studies have shown that duckweed can be included in poultry,

swine, and cattle feedstocks at benecial inclusion rates;

however, the practice is not yet done on a commercial scale

due to drying costs. (duckweed is 92-94 percent water on

average) Solar drying or hybrid drying has been successful on

a limited tonnage basis and this technology looks promising

for the future.

Question and Answer

with Tamra Fakhoorian,

International Lemna Assocation

Duckweed expert, Ms

Fakhoorian is a biologist,

chemist, and co-founder of

the International Lemna

Association, of which she is

the current executive director.

Three years ago Ms Fakhoorian

founded GreenSun Products,

LLC; a company that has

developed duckweed production systems, and product lines

for both pet and human nutrition.

by Peter Parker, Milling and Grain magazine

Duckweed is the smallest owering plant in the world, an aquatic plant which can be found in fresh water or wetlandsin most corners of the world that do not freeze too frequently. Floating on or just below the surface of still or slow-movingbodies of water, many around the world perceive it as a pest, claiming it “clogs up lakes or ponds”.

However, duckweed is anything but a pest. It is in fact somewhat more of a super plant. With properties suggesting itis under-utilised potentially as bio-fuel; as an effective bio-remediator of waste water; it is a potent fertiliser; and mostimportantly for the purposes of this article, it is a rich and sustainable source of protein with the potential for widespread usein animal feed, aqua feed, and as a food source for humans.

D u c k w e e d The search for a sustainable

protein supplement for the future

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Duckweed as a nutritional supplement in poultry and duck

production report better coloration of meat and yolks. Ducks,

tilapia, and carp are well able to process the moisture in fresh

duckweed and are the exception to the fresh feed limitations.

New developments in fermentation allows for preservation of

fresh feedstock with a higher percentage of digestible protein

than soya.

Protein extraction processes are rendering lemna-based

feedstocks that are becoming competitive with shmeal

pricing. I predict lemna protein concentrates (LPC) will the

quickest route to market for aqua and terrestrial animal feedsfor the industry.

For decades, small farmers in Asia have implemented

duckweed production in integrated systems to save on feed

costs for ducks, swine, and aquaculture. Using their models,

modern CAFO can benet by using duckweed to remediate

efuent from biomethanol digestion systems. The resulting

feedstock can be incorporated into animal or aquaculture feed

rations for cost savings.

Q. What benefts would using duckweed have over soy in

regards to protein supplementation in animal feeds?

A. Duckweed has many benets when compared to soya:

Studies have found that lemna protein concentrate is

comparable to soy protein concentrate for swine• Duckweed produces four to ve times the protein per

hectare over soya

• Non-GMO

• Does not require the use of arable land for production

• Soy production relies primarily on articial fertilisers,

whereas duckweed can remediate waste nutrients from

concentrated animal feedlots, thereby saving costs, cleaning

wastewater and producing a valuable feed at the same time

• Duckfeed is virtually free fresh meal when compared to

soya

Q. What limitations does duckweed have in regards to use

as an animal feed? Legal regulations? Limited research?

Expensive to produce?

A. Legal regulations: So far, while duckweed is considered a

nuisance plant in some states in the US as well as Australia,

purposeful cropping has not been an issue.

Limited research: Need more animal feed research and

• AMINONIR - fast and reliable

amino acid predictions save time

and money

• The right raw materials from the

right supplier for the right price

[email protected]/animal-nutrition

Precise and accurate analysisof incoming raw materialsensures high feed quality.

60 | September 2015 - Milling and Grain

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production research in that protein content varies with

nutrient loads and seasonal variances.

Expense: Currently, drying costs are the biggest holdup

in commercialising production. Solar and hybrid driers

can bring the costs down considerably but are early-stage

for full-scale production. Processed LPC is foreseen to be

competitive with shmeal prices in the near future.

Q. I understand that you are the owner of GreenSun

Products, and that you have developed both pet and

human nutritional products from duckweed. Do you haveintentions of expanding into the industry of livestock

feed?

A. My team developed production, harvesting, drying and

processing systems for duckweed meal and LPC. GreenSun

initially started out in the pet food arena and has a patent

pending on formulations with limited sales in certain US

states.

A year and a half ago, GreenSun turned its attention to

research and development for human nutrition and has

recently secured funding for that sector. GreenSun has

received many inquiries as to supplying bulk tonnage of

duckweed meal for livestock, but cannot compete with

soy at this time. Long-term goals include mass production

of LPC as a shmeal replacement. GreenSun is currentlyexpanding productions to include the US, Philippines, and

Mexico.

Q. What research is currently being done on the use of

duckweed as a livestock feed?

A. I just returned from the ICDRA in Japan-International

Conference on Duckweed Research and Applications.

Researchers there are primarily focused on genome

mapping and bacterial synergies for optimising production.

One study involving tilapia showed a 25 percent inclusion

rate of dried duckweed in tilapia rations but this has

been done before. There are not very many animal feed

studies at this time and this is something I am strongly

encouraging feed scientists to look into. Some of the

most recent studies have been done with regards to swine,

shrimp, and cattle.

Q. Can you please tell me more about the International

Lemna Association?

A. The International Lemna Association (ILA) works to

develop commercial production of duckweed for renewable,

sustainable products for a hungry and increasingly fresh water

limited world.

ILA was formed in June of 2012 to assist in the development

of commercially viable production and processes of

duckweed and other aquatic species for renewable,

sustainable products. Our membership consists of producers

and researchers from around the world.

We are the rst trade association in the world dedicated to

large-scale production of the aquatic plant commonly known

as duckweed. The ILA seeks to bring duckweed and other

aquatic species to the limelight of sustainable crops that

out-produce terrestrial crops for protein and starches, whileutilising waste nutrients and water sources such as municipal

and industrial wastewater streams.

You can learn more at www.internationalLemnaAssociation.org

Q. Can you tell me any more interesting duckweed success

stories you would like me to include?

A. One company in Argentina, MamaGrande, is remediating

municipal wastewater lagoons with duckweed, using a

fermentation process to produce polylactic acid and using the

residue for high protein animal feedstock.

Milling and Grain - September 2015 | 61

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duckweed - the search for a sustainable protein supplement for the future

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