The introduction of duckweed as a novel protein source in Flanders
LemnaPro is an agricultural initiative with the goal of introducing duckweed as a new protein crop on a larger scale in Flanders. The project aims to make duckweed a viable addition to the range of available crops for Flemish farmers, supporting local agriculture and sustainable practices.
The project is primarily addressing: horticulturists with vacant greenhouses or who wish to diversify, pig farmers with secondary manure processing and aquaculture companies. Additionally animal feed producers, producers of meat and meat alternatives and ingredient suppliers are involved.
objectives of the LemnaPro project
- Studying and optimizing water lentil cultivation and harvesting through pilot-scale installations for both animal feed and food applications.
- Developing a user-friendly tool to estimate the economic profitability of water lentil cultivation.
- Optimizing the drying process and protein extraction and analyzing the nutritional and functional properties of the resulting protein-rich powder and extract.
- Developing a protein-rich water lentil burger.
- Testing different silage techniques and optimizing feed pellets based on water lentils.
- Gathering knowledge about the legislation for the use of water lentils in food and feed.
- Providing advice to interested farmers and horticulturists and support to food companies in product development.
Project info
The LemnaPro project is funded by the agricultural research fund of the flemish government (VLAO-LA) and is coordinated by FlandersFoods, together with the project partners Inagro, Ghent University and Vives. The project started November 2021 and ends in October 2025.
Duckweed pilots monitored
Azalea growers Hans and Kathleen Van De Steene, from Maldegem (Belgium) have taken an innovative approach to sustainable agriculture by integrating duckweed cultivation into their greenhouse operations. This pilot project, funded by the LemnaPro initiative, explores the potential of duckweed (Lemna and Wolffia were tested) as a sustainable and protein-rich crop for various applications.
Three pilot scale duckweed-based remediation systems were set up in 2023 and monitored during the Belgian growing season. Wastestreams from the pig manure treatmentprocess were used to fertilise the pilots weekly.
Duckweed was cultivated in a racewaypond (35 m²) at the research center inagro in Belgium on wastewater from their aquaculture installation. The harvested duckweed was used for processing experiments for feed applications like ensiling and extrusion of duckweed into a fishfeed pellet.