Assessment of the Production Potential of Three Lemnaceae Species under Uniform Nutritional and Management Conditions

Background and Objective: Due to the growing world population and the increase in demand for food, food security may be the greatest challenge of humanity in the future. Duckweeds have the potential to be a useful alternative for human food and animal feed due to their great nutritional content. This study evaluates the production potential of three Lemnaceae species under uniform nutritional and management conditions. Materials and Methods: To assess the production potential of available species of duckweed, the experiment was conducted at the University of Tehran. Three species of Lemna gibba, Lemna minor and Spirodela polyrhiza, were compared under the same nutritional conditions in a greenhouse. The 25% concentration of Standard Hoagland solution was used. Results: Results showed that there are significant differences among studied species in growth parameters. Lemna minor and Lemna gibba showed better results in dry weight, linear growth rate, relative growth rate and doubling time. The CP content of three species was more than 30% of DW. Conclusion: The biomass yield and nutritive value, of Lemna minor, were more promising to be grown for nutritional biomass production.