Phytoremediation applied to pig farming through Wolffia brasiliensis and its biomass as a nutritional source

• Grant number: 21/04607-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Augusto Ducati Luchessi
• Grantee: Daiane Salete Broch Mignoni
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas (FCA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of macrophyte type aquatic plants for phytoremediation of environmental contaminants represents a platform with great potential for removal of eutrophic compounds, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), as well as other pollutants. In this context, phytoremediation can efficiently reduce environmental contaminants, and the aquatic plant behaves as a photosynthetic pump capable of adsorbing or metabolizing such undesirable compounds. In swine production, the concentrations of N and P are considerably high in swine manure and under certain conditions, heavy metals are also present. Therefore, the high level of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems favors the development of macrophytes determining their rapid growth (with high biomass yields). Such plants, in addition to having the bioremediation capacity, acting in the preservation of water bodies can be an alternative source of the protein matrix and represent a sustainable production from an economic and environmental point of view. In this sense, the objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of Wolffia brasiliensis in a stressful environment containing swine manure under laboratory conditions and on a pilot scale. We hypothesize that swine manure has a positive impact on biomass yield and its protein content. Due to the proposed cultivation in swine wastewater, factors such as possible bio-accumulation of heavy metals will also be evaluated here. Thus, the guarantee of safety will be characterized by the evaluation of the toxicity profile in human cell lines from wastewater pre and post-treatment with macrophytes. Relevant information on the macrophyte biomass produced during the phytoremediation process, both from the nutritional aspect and from the risk analysis of contaminants that may be present. (AU)