Aquaculture Studies
2025, Vol 25, Num, 5 (Pages: AQUAST2439)
Biomass Production of Water-Meal (Wolffia globosa) and Its Chemical Composition and Amino Acid Profiles when Grown with Chemical Fertilizer in an Out-door Polyethylene (PE) Tank Cultivation System
Jittima Munkit 1 ,Nudtha Nithikulworawong 2 ,Ratchaneegorn Mapanao 3 ,Wirat Jiwyam 4
1 Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Nong Khai Campus, Khon Kaen University, Nong Khai Province, Thailand
DOI :
10.4194/AQUAST2439
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Water-meal (Wolffia globosa) was cultivated with NPK (15:15:15) fertilizer under three
treatments with four replicates. The treatments consisted of NPK fertilizer applications
at three different levels: 16 g/tank (CF1), 26 g/tank (CF2), and 36 g/tank (CF3), which
were applied weekly. The water-meal was grown for 35 days, the biomass production
was assessed, and the treatment with the highest mass production was harvested in
order to determine the chemical composition and the amino acid profiles. The results
showed that water-meal cultivated with NPK fertilizer at the rate of 26 g/tank (CF2)
had exhibited the highest biomass production. There was a significant difference
(P<0.05) compared to the CF1 treatment, while no significant difference (P0.05) was
found when compared to the CF3 treatment. The water-meal that had been cultivated
with the CF2 treatment exhibited high protein content (40.64±2.13%) and rich amino
acid profiles. It contained 17 types of amino acid profiles, with 9 essential amino acids
(EAA), and 8 non-essential amino acids (NEAA). Glutamic acid was the major amino
acid, while leucine and lysine were the most abundant EAA. Our findings indicated that
this cultivation system can be used to produce highly nutritious water-meal biomass
for human consumption or animal feed.
Keywords :
Duckweed Plant-based protein Inorganic fertilizer