## 5 Nutritional Value and Composition of _Lemma minor_  
_Lemma minor_ can contain high levels of crude protein (CP). This makes it attractive as a substitute for traditional sources of protein such as soybean meal and fish meal. Some authors have reported mean values of 17.5, 20.33, and 22.5 g/100 g of CP in _L. minor_ on a dry weight base [7,12,14]. But also as high as 31 g/100 g CP for _L. minor_ cultivated in water with pH between 7 and 8, and up to 42.8 g/100 g CP when fertilized with animal manure [33,36]. Table 1 shows a summary of the nutritional value (proximate composition and macro-minerals) of _L. minor_ with data from different authors and countries. Table 2 shows a summary of the main microminerals in _L. minor_. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Country**} & **Crude** & **Crude** & **Ether** & \multirow{2}{*}{**Ash**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**NFE 1**} & **Ca** & **P** & **Mg** & \multirow{2}{*}{**Ref**} \\  & **Protein (\%)** & **Fiber (\%)** & **Extract (\%)** & & & & (mg/kg) & (mg/kg) & (mg/kg) \\ \hline Indonesia & 23.24 & 11.53 & 3.43 & 13.23 & - & 1.3 & 1.3 & - & [37] \\ \hline India & 36.07 & - & 8.45 & 21.41 & - & - & - & - & [2] \\ \hline Indonesia & 23.47 & 29.92 & 3.99 & 23.60 & 19.02 & - & - & - & [38] \\ \hline Indonesia & 29.86 & 13.22 & 3.80 & 14.00 & 41.24 & - & - & - & [39] \\ \hline India & 36.47 & - & 7.39 & 21.72 & - & - & - & - & [40] \\ \hline India & 20.33 & 18.06 & 3.10 & 30.35 & - & 2.80 & 1.10 & - & [14] \\ \hline Pakistan & 32.66 & - & 7.33 & - & & 0.015 & - & 0.034 & [30] \\ \hline Italy 1 & 25.38 & 10.80 & 2.79 & 8.26 & - & - & - & - & [41] \\ \hline Italy & 28.13 & 15.20 & 5.10 & 16.40 & - & - & - & - & [3] \\ \hline Nigeria & 41.08 & 1.25 & 2.18 & 8.63 & - & - & - & - & [42] \\ \hline Nigeria & 29.96 & 27.10 & 2.83 & 14.63 & - & 0.12 & 0.68 & - & [43] \\ \hline Saint Lucia & 41.10 & 29.20 & 1.15 & 8.64 & - & - & - & - & [42] \\ \hline Pakistan & 30.30 & - & 7.34 & - & - & 0.032 & - & 0.29 & [8] \\ \hline Iran & 22.55 & 8.31 & 2.85 & 19.58 & 46.76 & 1.42 & 0.55 & 0.48 & [12] \\ \hline China & 17.5 & 29.7 & 3.4 & 16.6 & - & - & - & - & [44] \\ \hline Bangladesh & 28.90 & - & - & - & - & 0.029 & - & 0.029 & [36] \\ \hline Kenia & 35.34 & 5.35 & 8.36 & 13.67 & - & - & - & - & [45] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Notes: Results given on a dry weight (DW) basis. 1 A mixture of _L. minor_ and _L. gibbt_ was analyzed.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Summary of micro-minerals (mg/kg) in _Lemma minor_ for animal feed. It was reported that _L. minor_ has a higher true digestibility of protein (79%) than corn (62%), but lower than the digestibility of soybean meal (88-90%) [49]. For a mixture of _L. minor_ and _L. minuta_ a standardized ileal digestibility of crude protein in broiler chicken of 40.2 g/100 g was reported. But its level of tannins (0.29 g/100 g) suggests that it is not an optimized biomass for broiler chicken [7]. Traditional protein sources such as soybean meal and fishmeal are higher in total crude protein content than _L. minor_. Fishman may contain between 56.5 g/100 g and 72.0 g/100 g CP, while soybean meal may contain between 36.6 and 52.7 g/100 g, depending on its quality. Fishman is often considered costly, and its use is limited in poultry diets because more than 10% of fishmeal in the diet can add a fishy taste to the meat. It is recommended that the levels of some essential amino acids, including methionine, lysine, and cysteine, be analyzed in animal diets, and appropriately balanced for the species being fed [41; 42; 43]. The amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine predominate in _L. minor_ constituting 48.67% of total essential amino acids in _L. minor_, while glutamic acid represents 25.87% of non-essential amino acids [2]. Another study reported that in its crude protein, _L. minor_ contained more of the following amino acids: leucine (6.41%), arginine (4.56%), lysine (4.49%), phenylalanine (4.25%), tryptophan (3.89%), and isoleucine (3.62%) [3]. A summary of the amino acid content of _L.