Chapter 3

Water hyacinth as alternative feed

Pergaps the most realistic use of water hyacinth right at this moment is its use as alternative feed.
Because
1. Its high protein content
2. Its availability
3. Its low cost
Water hyacinth can be used as feed in three forms fresh, ensiled and wilted. To reduce its high
fiber content, fermentation is used in some cases.
What is ensiled form ?
In ensiled form, grass or any other green fodder is stored in silo, in airtight condition. Drying is
not used for silage. Ensiled cops are used for animal feed in winter.
What is wilted form ?
Wilted crops are partially air dried crops. Wilting is done before ensiling.
There are many reports made throughout the world suggesting WH as a very good alternative
animal feed. Some of its are mentioned here.
For ruminants
There is no doubt that the cellulose content of water hyacinth can be used as a good source of
energy for ruminants (Mukherjee & Nandi, 2004). Para grass (Brachiaria mutica) has been
replaced with fresh WH in their cattle (Biswas & Mandal, 1988). Fresh WH performed better
than wilted WH for goat (Aregheore & Cawa, 2000). If WH is mixed with a rice straw based
diet, growth of beef cattle increased (Islam et al., 2009). Addition of 30% dried WH in basal diet
of wheat straw resulted in 500g daily live weight gain (Parashar et al., 1999). Wilting reduces
silage losses, it is important as WH contains low dry matter content (McDonald et al., 2011).
Ensiled WH was mixed with rice straw, urea and molasses. Upon feeding it to dairy cattle, it
resulted in better milk yield (Chakraborty et al., 1991). Sheep accepts both ensiled and wilted

WH (Abou-Raya et al., 1980; Baldwin et al., 1975). Although wilted WH cannot be used as feed
for sheep solely, it can be used upto 50% in their feed (Abdelhamid & Gabr, 1991). After
extracting mechanically its juice, WH can be used as feed for buffalo calves (Borhami et al.,
1992).
Pigs
In Vietnam, cooked or fresh WH reduced organic matter digestibility. But it did not affect feed
intake and concentrate usage was reduced upto 6% (Manh et al., 2002b; Son & Trung, 2002).
Ensiled WH costs low, so it suits small holder farms.
Rabbits
WH that was grown in waste water replaced alfalfa successfully in rabbit diet (Moreland et al.,
1991). Para grass was replaced upto 60% with WH and it resulted in better growth performance
(Thu & Dong, 2009).
Ducks
In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, birds are fed with conventional diets but alternative feed like
WH and duckweed are provided to duck. (Sotolu, 2010; Men et al., 2002). Men and Yamasaki
(2005) found the
replacement upto 25% of a commercial diet by fresh WH to be economically profitable due to
the lower feed cost, but poor in performance. In China, WH has been successfully used as duck
feed. Replacement of traditional diet with WH results in higher daily feed intake, egg laying ratio
and egg quality (Jianbo et al., 2008).
Fish
WH can be a good feed source if its high fiber content can be reduced in any way. It is
recommended by Hertrampf & Piedad-Pascual for fresh water fish (Hertrampf & PiedadPascual,2000). On the other hand, for tilapia feed it may not perform well as suggested by
Buddington due to high fiber content (Buddington, 1980). El-Sayed (2003) found that ensiled
WH showed better performance than fresh WH replacing wheat bran in diet upto 20% .The

supplementation of basal diet with WH can be as high as 50% for fish (Hertrampf & PiedadPascual, 2000).

Water hyacinth as fish feed

Study for African catfish
Rapid growth rate of water hyacinth affects water chemistry in many ways.it reduces light
penetrationand dissolved oygen level in water, affects flora and fauna,increases rate of water loss
due to evaporanspiration. To make its practical use, it s being considered as alternative plant
protein source in livestock feed.
Water hyacinth contains high amount of cell wall material which is mainly cellulose and also a
high amount of amino acid. Fiber content is higher in whole water hyacinth plant than in leaves
only. Clarias gariepinus is a very common african catfish. To compare the digestibility of water
hyacinth plant as fish meal, following study was made.
Experimental work
Collection and processing of water hyacinth
Fresh water hyacinth plants were collected from Awba dam of university of Ibadan. They were
solar dried for 2 weeks. Leaves were ground to make WLM (water hyacinth leaves meal) and the
whole plant were ground to make WPM (water hyacinth plant meal). These two meals have
differences in composition. WLM has higher crude protein than WPM whereas WPM has higher
ash than WLM.
Table 3.1: proximate composition of WHMs
WHM
WPM
WLM

CP (%)
24.17
28.2

CL (%)
2.37
4.7

C Fiber (%)
19.62
14.79

ash (%)
11.35
7.03

NFE (%)
42.49
45.28

How experimental diets were made

Three isoproteic (40% CP) diets were prepared, the main diet being WPM, WLM and SBM
(soya bean meal) respectively. SBM acted like control. There were other components that make
up the complete diet like fishmeal, groundnut cake, bone meal etc. Allowance was made to
accommodate 1% chromic oxide in each of three diets that served as marker.
Table 3.2: gross composition of experimental diets (g/100/DM)
Ingredients
Diet 1
Diet 2
Fish meal
18.94
18.94
Groundnut cake
26.97
26.97
SBM
22.91
WPM
26.72
WLM
Yellow maize
25.18
21.37
Bone meal
1
1
Vit premix
2.5
2.5
Fish oil
1.5
1.5
Chromic oxide
1
1
Table 3.3: proximate composition of experimental diets (g/100/DM)

Diet 3
18.94
26.97

Parameter
Crude protein
Fiber
Fat
Ash
NFE
Gross
energy

Diet 3
40.11
5.51
4.86
6.3
43.22
329.25

Diet 1
40.13
4.38
7.14
4.62
43.73
328.16

Diet 2
40.08
6.47
4.21
6.11
43.13
326.32

31.63
16.46
1
2.5
1.5
1

(kcal/g/DM)

Digestibility study
90 catfish fingerlings of11.2 gram average weight were randomly distributed into 9 concrete
tanks of with 150 L capacity. Water supply source was deep well, flowrate of 2 L/min for 70
days. Dissolved oxygen, pH, ammonia these parameters were taken using a combined digital
meter (YSI). Fish were fed twice (8:00, 18:00 hrs).

Faeces were collected from each tank before feeding and 8 hrs after feeding. Faeces were oven
dried at 48 degree celsius for 120 hrs. All meals, diets, fish samples and faecal wastes were
chemically analyzed for their proximate composition according to AOAC method. At the end of
the experiment, survival rates were determined.
Determination of growth, nutrient utilization and digestibility coefficient.
Following growth and nutrient utiization parameters were determined according to Aderlu et.al.
1. Mean weight gain (MWG)= (W2-W1)%
2. Specific growth rate (SGR) =(LogW2-LogW1)/(T2-T1)
W2=final weight of fish (gm)
W1=initial weight of fish(gm)
T2= end of experiment (days)
T1=beginning of experiment (days)
3. Protein efficiency ratio (PER)= weight gain (gm)/ protein intake (gm)
4. Feed conversion ratio (FCR)= Total feed intake/ weight gain(gm)
5. Protein intake= feed fed x crude protein of the feed
6. Nitrogen metabolism (Nm) = 0.549 x(a+b)xh/2
a= initial mean weight of fish (gm)
b= final mean weight of fish (gm)
h= experimental period (days)
7. Apparent digestibilty coefficient (ADC) = 102 (102 x (1d/1f) x (Nf/Nd))
Nd=protein in diet
Nf=protein in faecs
1d=% Cr2O3 in diet
1f=% Cr2O3 in faecs
8. Survival rate (%)= ( (initial no.of fish stocked-mortality)/(initial no. of fish))x 100
Results and discussions
Table 3.4: growth performance and nutrient utilization of fishes fed SBM and WHM based
diets.
Parameter
MWG (g)
WG(%)
Total feed intake (g)
SGR(%)
Protein intake (g)
Nm
ADC (protein)
ADC (energy)

Diet 1
23.08
67.38
76.43
0.7
4.37
8.73
76.14
73.02

Diet 2
14.79
56.84
79.64
.52
4.55
7.16
65.44
63.16

Diet 3
19.13
63.05
80.11
0.62
4.58
7.98
71.28
67.30

Survival rate (%)

100

100

100

From table 3.3, crude fiber was the highest in diet2 (WPM) and the lowest in diet 1 (SBM). Fish
that were fed diet 1 had the highest MWG, SGR. Fish under diet 2 had these in the lowest
amount. SBM (diet 1) is the conventional feed. But total feed intake and protein intake were
significantly higher in WHM based diets. Again, ADC was the highest in diet 1, diet 3 being the
intermediate and diet2 being the last. Survival rates were 100% for all, this is the most
important news.
Although temperature was constant throughout the experiment, pH and dissolved oxygen level
varied significantly for three different diet groups. Ammonia level was the highest in diet 2 and
the lowest in diet 1.
Lower weigh gain in WHM based diets may be due to their high fiber content. The results are in
line with Nwanna et al. (2008) who reported poor fish growth performance when fed diet with
crude fiber above 4.7% . Both WHM meals had fiber content much higher than this value.
Conclusion
This study reveals two important findings1. WLM is a better feed than WPM.
2. Only limitation for WPM as feed is high fiber content.
So, if water hyacinth leaves are processed in a suitable way, it can serve a dual purpose of
least cost fish diet and its effective mechanical control.

Study for Rohu fish

The previous study showed that unprocessed water hyacinth do not perform efficiently. In this
study, water hyacinth had been processed and showed tremendous good results.
Fishes do not like aquatic weeds like water hyacinth as their feed because of several factors1.
2.
3.
4.

Low protein content

Amino acid imbalance
Presence of antinutritional factor
Presence of crude fiber, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
Most importantly Fish generally do not possess the enzyme cellulase significant
symbiotic gut flora capable of hydrolyzing the cellulose present in mcrophytes.

Why fermentation ?
It has been studied that inclusion rate can be done by adding enzymes to break down plant cell
walls so that nutritious cellular contents are liberated. Microbial fermentation is necessary in
organisms with diet which is high in fiber. Fermentation is the cheapest way to increase the
nutritional level through microbial synthesis.

While water hyacinth plant multiply at a rate of 15% of surface area per day, there must be some
processes to make this plant edible for fish and others- just to make a good use of it. So, this
study was performed.
Nine isoproteic (30% CP) and isocaloric (18.23 kJ/kg) experimental diets were made. One
reference diet was used as standard. Raw and fermented WH leaves were used in three different
proportion -20,30 and 40%.. water hyacinth leaves were fermented with fish intestinal bacteria.
Two specific strains of these bacteria were Bacillus subtilis CY5 (isolated from
megaterium CI3 (isolated from Ctenopharyngodon idella) a commercial

Cyprinus carpio) and B.

lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactobacillus

acidophilus (lactobacil) was used along with B. subtilis CY5. The test specimen was Labeo
rohita, mostly herbivorous and very common in Asia.
Selected bacteria were allowed to grow in shake bottles containing 4% tryptone soya broth for
culture at 37oC for 24 hours to obtain viable cell no. 10^7/Ml broth. WH leaves were sundried
and ground, then moistened with a liquid basal medium whose composition is1. KH2PO4= 4g/L
2. NaHPO4= 4 g/L
3. MgSO4.7H2O= 0.2 g/L
4. CaCl2= 0.001 g/L
5. FeSO4.7H20= 0.004 g/L
Moistened leaves were autoclaved for sterilization. The sterilized leaf meal was inoculated with
B. subtilis and B. megaterium culture separately at the rate of 10^7 bacterial cells per gram of
dried leaf. It was kept for 15 days at 37 oC for fermentation.
Diet 1,2 and 3 were prepared with raw WH leaf meal. Diet 4,5 and 6 were prepared with B.
megaterium CI3 inoculated WH leaf meal. Diet 7,8 and 9 were formulated with WH leaf meal
fermented with B. subtilis CY5 with LAB. LAB was added at the rate of 10^6 cells per gram to
determine its synergistic effect. All diets contained 1% chromic oxide as digestibility marker.
Carboxymethylcellulose was used as binder.
Table 3.5 : composition (% dry weight) of experimental diets (on dry matter basis)
Ingredient

Referenc

Diets with raw WH Diets with WH leaf Diets with WH leaf

e diet

leaf meal

meal fermented with meal fermented with

Fish meal 30
Soya bean 35

D1
25
30.33

D2
22
33.58

D3
20
34

B. megaterium CI3
D4
D5
D6
25
22
20
30.33 33.58 34

B. subtilis CY5+LAB
D7
D8
D9
25
22
20
28.71 30
31

meal
Rice bran
32
WH leaf

21
20

11.41
30

3
40

21.66
20

11.41
30

3
40

23.28
20

15
30

6
40

meal
Cod liver 0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

oil
Soya bean 0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

oil
Vitamin

and
mineral
mixture
Chromic

oxide
Table 3.6: proximate composition (% dry weight)
Reference Diet

Diet

Diet

Diet

Diet

Diet

Diet

Diet

Diet

Dry

diet
99.75

1
99.9

2
99.9

3
99.9

4
99.91

5
99.93

6
99.94

7
99

8
99

9
99.93

matter
Crude

31.25

29.11

29.79

29.52

29.11

28.89

32

28.67

30.17

31.2

protein
Crude

7.5

4.5

7.5

7.2

11

10

10

10

10.2

lipid
Ash
Crude

13
12

15.5
9.89

15
9.5

13
10

14
7.2

12.5
7.5

14
7.8

12
6.76

13
6.9

13.5
7.2

fiber
Nitroge

36

41

38.19

41

42

40

36.14

42.53

39.83

37.83

18.17

16.84

17.51

17.8

17.8

18.92

18.72

18.8

18.8

18.88

free

extract
Gross
energy

(kJ/kg)
Tannin
Phytic

ND
ND

0.1
ND

0.2
ND

0.3
ND

ND
ND

ND
ND

ND
ND

ND
ND

ND
ND

ND
ND

acid

Fishes were acclimatized to lab condition for 15 days and were fed a mixture of rice bran and
mustard oil cake (1:1). Rohu fingerlings of approximate weight of 4 gram were distributed at the
rate of 15 fishes per tank. This treatment had 3 replicates. All fishes were fed only once daily at
10:30 hours at a feeding rate of 3% of body weight for 80 days of experiment. Each day faecal
matter were collected by immediate pipetting method. Uneaten feed and faecal matters were
dried at 55oC and refrigerated for subsequent analysis. Water temperature varied in the range of
29-32 oC, pH level varied from 6.5 to 7.3 and dissolved oxygen level varied from 4.9 to 7.2
mg/L.
Experimental diets, faecal matter samples and fish carcass were analyzed according to AOAC
methods.
a) Moisture was determined by oven drying at 105oC for 24 hours.
b) Crude protein (N x 6.25) was determined by micro kjeldahl digestion.
c) Lipid was determined by extracting the residue with petroleum ether at 40-60 oC for 7-8
hours in a soxhlet apparatus.
d) Crude fiber was determined as loss in ignition of dried lipid free residues after digestion
with 1.25% H2SO4 and 1.25% NaOH.
e) Ash was determined by ignition at 550 oC in furnace at constant weight.
f) NFE was computed by taking the sum of CP,CL,CF and moisture and subtracting it from
100.
g) Cellulose and hemicellulose contents were determined according to Updegraff (1969) and
Goering and Vansoset (1975).
h) Total free amino acid and total free fatty acids in raw and fermented leaf meal were
performed according to Moore and Stein (1948) and Cox and Pearson (1962).

Table 3.7 : Growth performance and feed utilization efficiencies in fishes fed experimental diets
for 80 days.
Paramet

Referen

Diet

Diets with

Diets

er

ce diet

WH leaf

with WH

with

meal

leaf meal

raw

fermente

fermente

WH

d with B.

d with B.

leaf

megateriu

subtilis

mea

m CI3

CY5+LA
D8
74.5

D9
69

Weight

64.75

l
D1
60.5

D2
60

D3
59.5

D4
79.75

D5
81.2

D6
70.7

B
D7
77.25

gain (%)
Feed

1.33

1.35

1.36

1.39

1.24

5
1.22

5
1.26

1.26

1.27

1.30

2.7
1.18
27

2.88
1.19
36.9

2.92
1.14
18.2

2.99
1.13
20.9

2.25
1.52
73.22

2.19
1.58
83.6

2.44
1.32
82.2

2.32
1.50
79.79

2.39
1.38
87.0

2.55
1.25
70.5

80.71

6
80.5

79.9

4
79.8

81.41

4
86.7

3
82.4

81.29

2
82.0

82.2

1
0.59

6
0.58

3
0.58

0.73

8
0.74

7
0.67

0.71

1
0.69

3
0.65

intake
(g/100g
body
weight of
fish per
day)
FCR
PER
ANPU(
%)
APD(%)

SGR (% 0.63
per day)

Water hyacinth as duck feed

WH has the capacity of purifying the water and it can be used as duck feed too. These two
utilities are integrated in this following study.
Poultry breeding has developed recently on industrial scale. Household raising of duck is
environmentally safe, but when it is done industrially, it produces wastes of higher concentration
that need immediate treatment. Constructed wetland technology was used to treat the wastes.
What is constructed wetland ?
Constructed wetland (CW) is a relatively new waste water management technique which
developed in last three decades. CW is now applied in at least 26 states in the USA (Hunt and
Poach, 2001). Plants of these wetlands determine their capacity (Jing et al., 2001). Plants absorb
nutrient and promote all kinds of microbial functions (Brix, 1977). Floating plants like WH show
the greatest effect on eutrophic water in these kinds of wetland.
Lihong poultry ltd. is an egg-duck farm in China. About one-fourth of this farm is covered by
water. Duck manures are directly discharged to water where they live. This is certainly an
unhealthy practice.
So, a constructed wetland of 688 m2 was built. The integrated design approach included a
wetland plant where WH was used as water purifier and duck feed, both.

Figure : Sketch map of the experimental site

Figure : Process of wastewater treatment with water hyacinth and its recycling utilization
Methods
Ducks were randomly divided into two groups- experimental and control group. The experiment
was carried out for 40 days. The feeding trial was made for 30 days. Control group was fed with
basic date grain. Experimental group was fed basic date grain also, in addition fresh WH leaves
from CW. Water sample from duck pond and CW were collected every 4 day. Followings were
measured
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

COD was measured by dichromate method.

Transparency was measured by Secchi disc.
DO was measured by electrochemical probe.
TP (total phosphorus) was determined by ammonium molybdate spectrophotometric method.
TN (total nitrogen) was determined by persiflagedigestion UV spectrophotometric method.

Experimental group was fed 40 g of fresh WH leaves daily. Every 10 days, egg samples were
collected from 2 groups. Egg weight, egg shape index, egg shell thickness, egg shell strength,
haugh unit were measured. Egg shell strength were measured by INSTRON material testing
machine.

Changes in COD,DO and growth of WH due to CW technique

Table 3.8 : effect of CW technique on waste water from duck farm
Indicator

Before

treatment After

COD
TP
TN
DO

(mg/L)
270
8.86
12.72
Not detectable

(mg/L)
96
6.82
9.95
2.14

treatment Removal rate (%)

64.44
23.02
21.78

Figure : COD changes with time in CK, CW.

From table 3.8 and figure, it is seen that COD declined sharply for first 12 days due to high
temperature. It helped WH to grow. Growth of WH multiplied to 1.5% within 16 days. Then WH
growth and COD both tend to slow down. Growth of WH is shown in the following figure.

Figure : growth of WH with time

Decrease in COD and steady growth of WH plant can be explained. Plants transport oxygen
which increases removal of organic matter (Reddy and D Angelo,1997). When plants die their
decomposition consumes oxygen. So COD declined and WH need to be harvested regularly.

From table 3.8 and figure, it is seen that DO level was zero at the inflow of CW. After treatment,
it rose to 2.14 mg/L, which is above the standard value for China (2 mg/L). Like COD, DO level
also increased sharply for first 12 days.
Effects on egg production performance with water hyacinth as feed
Table 3.9 : effect on egg production performance of adding WH to diet
Index
Test group
Control group
Feed intake (gm)
176.63
166.85
Egg laying rate (%)
89.75
81.75
Egg weight (gm)
65.59
64.08
Feed conversion ratio 2.87
2.97
From table 3.9, it is well understood that except feed conversion ratio,

Increase rate (%)

5.86
9.79
2.36
all index show a good

increase.

Effects on egg quality with water hyacinth as feed

Table 3.10 : effect on egg quality of adding WH to diet
Group

Test
Control

Egg

shape Egg

index

thickness

1.32
1.30

(mm)
0.58
0.53

shell Egg

shell Haugh unit

Egg

strength (N)

relative

36.65
31.33

weight
0.11
0.11

76.6
80.98

shell

Egg shell strength indicates egg damage rate. It is linked with egg shells thickness, porosity,
membrane thickness, mineral and protein content (Dai, 2001). WH clearly increased the egg
shell strength. High haugh unit indicates good egg CP (Dai, 2001). Haugh unit was lower in test
group than control group.

This experiment was run at autumn. What happens at temperature below zero degree is still
unknown. Long term use of this wetland also needs further research.

WATER HYACINTH AS GOAT FEED

this study was made at Animal Nutrition Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University,
Bangladesh to determine the usability of water hyacinth leaves as feed for goat.
about 8.75 million goats are in Bagladesh who live on kitchen wastes and roadside
grass(BBS,1986). it results in malnutrition and less productivity of goats. necessity of
unconventional feed like WHL arises during natural calamity when WH becomes only available
green fodder. limited works have been done in Bangladesh using WH in diet of cattle
(Khan,1977, Reza,1988). this study aimed to replace Dhal grass with WH as diet of goat.
Methods
the experiment ran for 60 days. WH leaves, dhal grass and a mixture of weat bran, seasame
oilcake and fish meal were the feed ingredients. they were sundried. proximate composition of
feeds and feces of goats were analyzed following AOAC method (1980).
12 black bengal goats were divided among 4 groups. 4 different diets were made for 4 different
groups.

Diet A = 100% dhal grass (DG)

Diet b = 75% DG + 25% WHL
Diet c =50% DG +50% WHL
Diet D = 100% WHL.
4 groups were fed these ad libitum throughout the experiement. feeds were provided twice a day,
at 8:00 a.m. and 4 p.m. the following table shows the proximate compositon of this feed.

Table 3.11: proximate composition of feed.

feed

DM

CP

CF

Ether

Ash

NFE

OM

ingredient
WHL
15.33
DG
17.82
wheat
88.52

20.8
12.35
14.9

16.15
38.67
15.19

extract
4.37
3.45
4.39

13.43
16.63
7.08

45.25
28.9
58.44

86.57
83.37
92.92

bran
Till

35.16

23.52

5.52

9.98

25.82

90.02

7.5

27.6

12.12

72.4

oil 91.82

cake
Fish meal 84.6
48.73
4.05
( all quantity are in g/100 g DM basis)

It is clearly seen that WHL contains higher percentage of CP,NFE,OM and lower percentage of
CF than that of dhal grass. so, WH has definitely higher nutritive value than DG.
Effect of WHL in diet on growth performance of goats
coefficient of digestibility of different nutrients were calculated as follows
COD of nutrient = (g nutrient provided g nutrient refused g nutrient in feces)/ (g nutrient
provided g nutrient refused) x 100

Table 3.12 : effect of diets on growth performance

group

no. of goats

avg. live weight total amount of feed conversion

gain by 60 days feed

1
2
3
4

3
3
2
3

consumed efficiency

(kg)

by 60 days on

1.76
1.63
1.37
1.03

DM basis (kg)
28.34
29.32
26.02
26

16.19
17.99
18.26
24.27

from this table 3.12 , highest feed intake was in group 2 (diet B). group 1 (diet A) showed
intermediate feed intake. group 4 (diet C) showed the lowest. it means, WHL as sole diet cannot
be used for goats. but when it is mixed with dhal grass, it increases palability of the mixed diet.
this results in better body weight gain. these results are in line with findings of Hossain (1959),
Gupta et al. (1975) and Reza (1988).
Conclusion
It is not the right time to recommend water hyacinth as the best alternative food stuff for
animals. It is obviously clear that it is economically feasible. But further research is
immediately needed to evaluate its effect on growth and halth of animals. Because in the
end, if animals are fed with wrong food, we shall be affected too as we eat them.