AUTHOR=Kumar Guddu , Sharma JaiGopal , Goswami Ravi Kumar , Shrivastav Avanish Kumar , Tocher Douglas R. , Kumar Neelesh , Chakrabarti Rina 

TITLE=Freshwater Macrophytes: A Potential Source of Minerals and Fatty Acids for Fish, Poultry, and Livestock

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.869425

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.869425

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<p>The freshwater macrophytes are abundant in tropical and subtropical climates. These macrophytes may be used as feed ingredients for fish and other animals. The nutritional value of twelve freshwater-cultured macrophytes was evaluated in the present study. Significantly higher crude protein (36.94–36.65%) and lipid (8.13–7.62%) were found in <italic>Lemna minor</italic> and <italic>Spirodela polyrhiza</italic>; ash content was significantly higher in <italic>Hydrilla verticillata, Wolffia globosa</italic>, and <italic>Pistia stratiotes</italic> (20.69–21.00%) compared with others. The highest levels of sodium, magnesium, chromium, and iron levels were recorded in <italic>P. stratiotes</italic>. <italic>H. verticillata</italic> was a rich source of copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc; the contents of calcium, magnesium, strontium, and nickel were highest in <italic>S. polyrhiza</italic>. Selenium and potassium contents were higher in <italic>Salvinia natans</italic> and <italic>W. globosa</italic>, respectively. The n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) contents were significantly higher in <italic>W. globosa</italic> and <italic>Ipomoea aquatica</italic>, respectively compared with others. Linoleic and α-linolenic acids were dominant n-6 and n-3 PUFAs. The highest value (4.04) of n-3/n-6 was found in <italic>I. aquatica</italic>. The ratio ranged from 0.61 to 2.46 in other macrophytes. This study reveals that macrophytes are rich sources of minerals, n-6 and n-3 PUFAs.</p>