A study on the nutritive value of Azolla pinnata

Abstract

Azolla is a good source of protein and it contains almost all essential amino acids, minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, manganese etc, apart from appreciable quantities of vitamin A precursor beta-carotene and vitamin B12. In view of the above facts, the present experiment was undertaken to explore the nutritive value of Azolla pinnata as a feed. Azolla was cultivated, harvested and sundried. Sun dried azolla sample was analyzed for proximate principles. The dry matter (DM) content of sun dried azolla meal was 89.73 percent. It contained 75.73 percent organic matter, 23.49 percent crude protein , 14.7 percent crude fibre, 3.7 percent ether extract, 24.26 percent total ash, 7.94 percent acid insoluble ash, 2.58 percent calcium and 0.26 percent phosphorus.