Sustainable protein production on agricultural effluents using duckweed

The aim of this thesis was to investigate if duckweed cultivation on agricultural wastewaters would be feasible under European conditions. Therefore, the productivity, feed value, feed safety, treatment capacity, and rentability of duckweed are investigated (a schematic overview is provided in Figure 1.7). Action-based research was performed in this PhD, meaning that the experiments were mostly performed outside the lab, using real-life waste streams, and in uncontrolled outside conditions. It was concluded that duckweed shows potential to be an economically feasible treatment method of biological effluent of the pig manure treatment in Europe. Furthermore, Nitrate, As, Cd, and Pb did not raise problems towards feed safety, while the amino acid composition Mn, Zn, and Fe give the plant a high feed value