Cultivation of Lemna Minor on Industry-Derived, Anaerobically Digested, Dairy Processing Wastewater

Abstract

The growth and nutrient uptake capacity of a common duckweed (Lemnaceae) species, Lemna minor “Blarney”, on dairy processing wastewater pre-treated by an anaerobic digester (AD-DPW) was explored. L. minor was cultivated in small stationary vessels in a controlled indoor environment, as well as in a semi-outdoor 35 L recirculatory system. The use of AD-DPW as a cultivation medium for L. minor offers a novel approach to dairy wastewater treatment, evolving from the current resource-intensive clean-up of wastewaters to duckweed-based valorisation, simultaneously generating valuable plant biomass and remediating the wastewater.

Keywords

• anaerobic digestate
• biomass generation
• circular economy
• Lemnaceae
• nutrient recovery
• phytoremediation