Speaker
Description
Duckweed is a sustainable biomass resource capable of high-value protein production, carbon sequestration, nutrient recovery, and water purification. This study evaluated the feasibility of commercial-scale duckweed production in Malaysia through pilot-scale cultivation, sequential nutrient optimization, drying process development, and life cycle assessment (LCA). A two-stage sequential media strategy was employed to optimize biomass growth and nutrient accumulation independently. Pilot-scale cultivation successfully reproduced laboratory-scale performance, demonstrating scalability while maintaining species-specific characteristics. Lemna minor achieved the highest relative growth rate (0.227 day⁻¹) with 36.8% protein (dry weight), whereas Spirodela polyrhiza accumulated 50.2% protein under sustained low-nitrogen conditions. Wolffia globosa exhibited unique metabolic traits, producing both high carbohydrate (50.7%) and protein (44.0%) contents under prolonged high-nitrogen cultivation. Drying conditions (40–55°C) significantly affected nutrient retention, pigment stability, powder properties, and downstream processing suitability, enabling biomass quality to be tailored for specific applications. LCA identified electricity use (80.4 kg CO₂-eq kg⁻¹ dry biomass) and water production (39.8 kg CO₂-eq kg⁻¹) as the major environmental hotspots. Nevertheless, cultivation of L. minor and S. polyrhiza achieved net carbon removal of 33.6 kg CO₂-eq kg⁻¹ dry biomass through biogenic carbon sequestration. Furthermore, integrating photovoltaic electricity transformed W. globosa cultivation into a net carbon sink, sequestering 81.0 kg CO₂-eq kg⁻¹ dry biomass. These findings demonstrate that optimized cultivation and processing strategies can support application-specific duckweed production while enhancing environmental and economic sustainability in tropical regions.
Keywords
Commercial cultivation; Life Cycle Assessment
References
None
| Corresponding author email | chderekchan@usm.my; m.tsutsui@cs-i.co.jp |
|---|---|
| Scientific Session | Applications |
