Nutritional value of Lemna valdiviana Phil (Araceae) submitted to different concentrations of fertilization with excrement of birds

Abstract

The lemnaceas are aquatic plants with great potential for use as raw material in the production of fish feed because they have a high nutritional value. The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and nutritional quality of Lemna valdiviana submitted to different rates of fertilization with bird excrement. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three repetitions. The treatments were: Control (without fertilizer); T1 – 150g.m-3, T2 – 300g.m-3 and T3 – 450g.m-3 of fresh excrement, distributed in a single dose to fertilize the L. valdiviana. The dose that provided the best nutritional quality of L. valdiviana was 450g.m-3, with a crude protein content of 19.66% in the dry matter, a fiber content of 13.06%, and 0.26% of P, 1.63% of N, 0.37% of Na and 1.22% of Ca in the dry mass. The levels achieved in this study indicate that L. valdiviana may be considered a good quality of raw material to be used in other experiments as a nutritional supplement for fish diet.

Keywords

• feed
• nutritional value
• chemical characterization
• duckweeds