Azolla as a beneficial macrophyte for livestock feed: a review

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of different Azolla species source (Kavya, 2014).

Proximate value	Azolla filiculoides	Azolla pinnata	Azolla microphylla	Azolla pinnata
	Buckingham et al. (1978)	Parnrkar et al. (1986)	Anitha et al. (2016)	Alalade and Iyayi (2006)
DM	–	–	90	–
CP	23–42	15.63	25.33	21.4
EE	5.02	2.84	3.01	2.7
CF	–	13.01	11.6	12.7
Ash	15.54		23.59	16.2
NFE	–	52.7	16.91	47.0
NDF	39.16	52.76	40.36	36.88
ADF	26.58	–	25.24	47.08
Ca	0.937	1.64	1.7	1.16
P	0.487	0.56	1.05	1.29

NB: DM (Dry Matter), CP (Crude Protein), EE (Ether Extract), CF (Crude Fiber), NFE (Nitrogen Free Extract), NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber), ADF (Acid Detergent Fiber)

Table 2. Major chemical composition of Azolla by different authors

Proximate composition	References
	Ahmed et al. (2016)	Ara et al. (2015)	Joysowal et al. (2018)	Bhatt et al. (2020)	Kumari et al. (2021)	Nidhi et al. (2015)	Roy et al. (2018)
DM	90.2				90.31		90.03
OM	80.35			79.7	84.3
CP	20	22.06	25.08	26.5	26.35	24.1	22.65
CF	14.25	14.3	14.39		15.16	15.1	11.03
EE	2.65	3.62	3.95	3.9	2.85	3.75	2.02
NFE	46.45	33.4	38.73		46.35	40.25	42.12
Ash	19.65	18.1	17.5	20.3	15.7	16.8	24.7
Ca	1.6	2.04	2.06	1.51		2.18
P	0.4	0.65	0.72	0.31		0.47
NDF	53.8			44.28	30.46
ADF	37			39.4	20.08
Cellulose	6.9
Hemicellulose	16.8
Lignin	5.7

NB: DM (Dry Matter), OM (Organic Matter), CP (Crude Protein), CF (Crude Fiber), EE (Ether Extract), NFE (Nitrogen Free Extract), NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber), ADF (Acid Detergent Fiber)

Table 3. Comparative nutritional composition of Azolla and other feed ingredients

Proximate value	Azolla	Guinea grass	Wheat bran	Rice bran	Yellow Oats	Vetch (V. sativa spp.)
	Lal et al. (2022)	Aregheore (2001)	Tahir et al. (2002)	Tahir et al. (2002)	Alemayehu et al. (2021)	Tassew et al. (2022)
DM		35.20	89	91	90	87.7
CP	23.75	11.20	13.10	12.10	15.0	18.4
EE	3.01	1.80	4.40	15.10	8.3
CF	11.50	33.60	11.3	12.8	2.1
Ash	24.91				1.31.3	17.9
NFE		40.90
NDF			51	33.00		42.1
ADF			15	18.00		32.0
Ca	0.47–1.29	0.49
P	0.22–5.45	0.29

NB: DM (Dry Matter), CP (Crude Protein), EE (Ether Extract), CF (Crude Fiber), NFE (Nitrogen Free Extract), NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber), ADF (Acid Detergent Fiber)

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