372
P. Mazumder et al.
One of the various other ways to control water hyacinth is to use it as a substrate
for cellulose production. Amriani et al. (2016) employed the cellulase-producing
fungal strains viz., Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma reesei. The water hyacinth
was treated biophysically and was pretreated with Ganoderma boninense, a white
rot fungi. G. boninense was mainly used to delignify the substrate and expose the
cellulose and hemicellulose in it. The treatment was carried out for 7 day and after
the biological degradation supplementary nutrients were added and the moisture was
maintained to 70% at pH 5. Finally, the sample was cleaned, dried and analyzed for
cellulose content. The highest cellulase enzyme activity in this study was determined
to be 1.035 IU mL
−1 .
16.2.3.5 As Leaf Protein Concentrate
Water hyacinth along with other aquatic plants has been utilized extensively in production of food and also as coastal area protection (Ajayi and Ogunbayo 2012). Time
and again the benefits of this plant evinced to be valuable to eradicate. Therefore,
collective attempt has been made by many researchers to find useful application for
food production. The plant is a very rich source of protein content in its leaves and
can be extracted for consumption. Water hyacinth leaf protein concentrate (WHLPC)
extraction was done and its composition such as alkaloids and phenols were analyzed
by Adeyemi and Osubor (2016). WHLPC has been proven to be having high nutrient
value by proximate analysis. Hence, WHLPC can serve as an edible direct raw food
or as additives in food industry. In WHLPC, half of the nutrient is protein (50%), and
rest parts are ash, fat, fiber and carbohydrate (33%). Amino acid profiling in WHLPC
determined mainly Phe (3.67%) and Leu (5.01%) and 15 other common amino acids
out of the 20 known ones. However, asparagine, tryptophan, and glutamine were
not found to be present. Although lead, cadmium, iron, chromium, platinum, silver,
antimony, nickel, zinc, etc., were found in the WHLPC but the concentrations of Pb,
Cd, Hg, and Cr were less than 0.01. All the trace elements were present within the
permissible limit. The concentrations of alkaloids and phenols in the WHLPC were
16.6 and 6.0 mg/kg, respectively. The above study, thus, shows that WHLPC is a rich
source of protein and has many other health benefits. Also, it is non-toxic in nature
and can be eaten as a raw food.
16.2.4 As Animal Feed
The need of animal protein with the hike in price of food is related to the continuous
population growth whose need for quest to find alternate source such as WHLPC
is on. The availability of good quantity of moisture and mineral in water hyacinth
makes it suitable as feed and fodder for many animals. Water hyacinth can be shredded, boiled before feeding and when mixed with other vegetables or rice bran and
salt can be used as a fodder for pigs. In China, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand,
P. Mazumder et al.
One of the various other ways to control water hyacinth is to use it as a substrate
for cellulose production. Amriani et al. (2016) employed the cellulase-producing
fungal strains viz., Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma reesei. The water hyacinth
was treated biophysically and was pretreated with Ganoderma boninense, a white
rot fungi. G. boninense was mainly used to delignify the substrate and expose the
cellulose and hemicellulose in it. The treatment was carried out for 7 day and after
the biological degradation supplementary nutrients were added and the moisture was
maintained to 70% at pH 5. Finally, the sample was cleaned, dried and analyzed for
cellulose content. The highest cellulase enzyme activity in this study was determined
to be 1.035 IU mL
−1 .
16.2.3.5 As Leaf Protein Concentrate
Water hyacinth along with other aquatic plants has been utilized extensively in production of food and also as coastal area protection (Ajayi and Ogunbayo 2012). Time
and again the benefits of this plant evinced to be valuable to eradicate. Therefore,
collective attempt has been made by many researchers to find useful application for
food production. The plant is a very rich source of protein content in its leaves and
can be extracted for consumption. Water hyacinth leaf protein concentrate (WHLPC)
extraction was done and its composition such as alkaloids and phenols were analyzed
by Adeyemi and Osubor (2016). WHLPC has been proven to be having high nutrient
value by proximate analysis. Hence, WHLPC can serve as an edible direct raw food
or as additives in food industry. In WHLPC, half of the nutrient is protein (50%), and
rest parts are ash, fat, fiber and carbohydrate (33%). Amino acid profiling in WHLPC
determined mainly Phe (3.67%) and Leu (5.01%) and 15 other common amino acids
out of the 20 known ones. However, asparagine, tryptophan, and glutamine were
not found to be present. Although lead, cadmium, iron, chromium, platinum, silver,
antimony, nickel, zinc, etc., were found in the WHLPC but the concentrations of Pb,
Cd, Hg, and Cr were less than 0.01. All the trace elements were present within the
permissible limit. The concentrations of alkaloids and phenols in the WHLPC were
16.6 and 6.0 mg/kg, respectively. The above study, thus, shows that WHLPC is a rich
source of protein and has many other health benefits. Also, it is non-toxic in nature
and can be eaten as a raw food.
16.2.4 As Animal Feed
The need of animal protein with the hike in price of food is related to the continuous
population growth whose need for quest to find alternate source such as WHLPC
is on. The availability of good quantity of moisture and mineral in water hyacinth
makes it suitable as feed and fodder for many animals. Water hyacinth can be shredded, boiled before feeding and when mixed with other vegetables or rice bran and
salt can be used as a fodder for pigs. In China, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand,