"Nutritional properties of raw and cooked Azolla caroliniana Willd.,
an aquatic wild edible plant"

 

(Click/tap image for larger size.)
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) statistical results showing clear separation of the control group from all the cooking treatment groups.

 

(Click/tap image for larger size.)
Azolla caroliniana

 

Original Article Published in
"Food Science & Nutrition"
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

Published January 10, 2024

 

https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.3904

 

Authors

Daniel J. Winstead The Pennsylvania State University
Francesco Di Gioia The Pennsylvania State University
Marjorie Jauregui The Pennsylvania State University
Michael G. Jacobson The Pennsylvania State University

 

Abstract Azolla caroliniana Willd. is an understudied wild edible plant native to the Eastern United States. Other species of Azolla have been used across the world for several thousand years as a livestock feed and as “green manure.” The use of Azolla for human consumption is thought to be limited by its high total polyphenolic content (TPC). However, the TPC and nutritional content of A. caroliniana has not been thoroughly studied. We measured TPC and other nutrients before and after cooking methods designed to lower TPC. We found that TPC was 4.26 g gallic acid equivalent (GAE) kg−1 DW in raw A. caroliniana. All cooking methods significantly lowered TPC. Protein content was 19% DW, and the apparent protein digestibility was 78.45%. Our yield was 173 g FW m−2 day−1 and 5.53 g DW m−2 day−1. Azolla caroliniana is a high-yielding plant with great potential for cultivation and domestication.

 

PDF of Article: Full Content

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Wired Magazine's article (March 11, 2024) about this research - “Get Ready to Eat Pond Plants: Meet the amazing azolla, a nutritious fern that grows like crazy, capturing carbon in the process. Could it be a food—and fertilizer and biofuel—of the future?”

 

Wired Magazine contacted Daniel and interviewed him for this article. ("Wired is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics.")

 

 “I’m not out here saying everybody should go eat this stuff right away,” says research technologist Daniel Winstead, who’s studying azolla at Penn State. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. But boy, it’s got so much potential.”

 

Dr. Jagdish Ladha, a soil scientist and agronomist at the University of California, Davis, who wasn’t involved in the new research: "Ladha reckons that Winstead’s new paper could fuel renewed interest."

"In the economically developing world, all these charms of azolla combine into a sort of super-solution."