Nutritional Value of the Duckweed Species of the Genus Wolffia (Lemnaceae) as Human Food

Abstract

Species of the genus Wolffia are traditionally used as human food in some of the Asian countries. Therefore, all 11 species of this genus, identified by molecular barcoding, were investigated for ingredients relevant to human nutrition. The total protein content varied between 20 and 30% of the freeze-dry weight, the starch content between 10 and 20%, the fat content between 1 and 5%, and the fiber content was ~25%. The essential amino acid content was higher or close to the requirements of preschool-aged children according to standards of the World Health Organization. The fat content was low, but the fraction of polyunsaturated fatty acids was above 60% of total fat and the content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was higher than that of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in most species. The content of macro- and microelements (minerals) not only depended on the cultivation conditions but also on the genetic background of the species. This holds true also for the content of tocopherols, several carotenoids and phytosterols in different species and even intraspecific, clonal differences were detected in Wolffia globosa and Wolffia arrhiza. Thus, the selection of suitable clones for further applications is important. Due to the very fast growth and the highest yield in most of the nutrients, Wolffia microscopica has a high potential for practical applications in human nutrition.

Duckweed (Lemnaceae): Its Molecular Taxonomy

“…Remarkably, the efficiency of physiological processes responsible for the commercial properties of these plants is not dependent on the genus or the species but is a characteristic of the clones of duckweeds. This clonal diversity has been proven e.g., for growth rate (Sree et al, 2015b;Ziegler et al, 2015), turion formation capacity (Kuehdorf et al, 2014), nutritional quality (Appenroth et al, 2018) as well as for starch accumulation capacity (Sree et al, 2015a;Ma et al, 2018). These exemplary investigations demonstrate that the physiological properties shown by a particular clone of a duckweed species is characteristic to that clone and cannot be extrapolated to the whole species or to the genus or to the family.…”

“…Lemnaceae (commonly known as water lens or duckweed) is a family of monocotyledonous water plants (Landolt, 1986;Landolt and Kandeler, 1987;Sree et al, 2016) characterized by the fastest growth rates among flowering plants (Sree et al, 2015b;Ziegler et al, 2015). As a consequence, the rate of biomass production is high, which provides the basis for different practical applications of duckweeds in the areas of food and feed sustainability (Landolt and Kandeler, 1987;Appenroth et al, 2017Appenroth et al, , 2018Sonta et al, 2019) and biotechnology (Zhao et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2018;Kaur et al, 2018;Ren et al, 2018).…”

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Wolffia globosa (Lemnoideae) and its phylogenetic relationships to other Araceae family

“…However, now it is found that Wolffia globosa contains more protein with essential amino acids, fats and crude oil than beans, which is also used as a soybean substitute (Chantiratikul et al 2010). Especially in Southeast Asia, Thailand, Wolffia globosa is called 'khai nam', 'kai pum' and 'kai nahe' are used as food ingredients such as salads, omelets and vegetable curries (Appenroth et al 2018). Therefore Wolffia species provides an opportunity to reduce starvation caused by increasing worldwide food prices (UN Global Issues 2019).…”

Die Wasserlinse – eine unterschätzte Vielzweckpflanze

“…B. in Currys und Omeletten), wo sie einfach von stehenden Gewässern abgeschöpft werden (Abbildung ). Sie sind auch sehr nahrhaft: Eine kürzlich durchgeführte Studie zeigt, dass Wolffia hohe Gehalte an Protein, Stärke und Ballaststoffen aufweist, sowie reichlich essentielle Aminosäuren, eine günstige Fettsäure‐Zusammensetzung und wertvolle Mineralstoffe und Antioxidanten enthält . Dies ist vor allem für Länder mit unsicherer Lebensmittelversorgung von Interesse.…”