The study was aimed at developing innovation in the utilization of water hyacinth as animal feed through bio-processing or fermentation process derived from vegetable waste in the form of cabbage and mustard greens. The research findings were water hyacinth and bacterial starter obtained from the extraction process of vegetable waste. The design used was completely randomized consisting of four treatments and five replicates with the following composition P0 as control, P1: Starter 20%; P2: Starter 40%; and P3: Starter 60%. The observation variables consisted of 2 stages, which were physical and chemical post-fermentation quality, and in vitro material digestibility. The results of descriptive analysis showed that the treatment of 20 and 40% starter produced the best physical quality when compared with other treatments, however, in the observation of chemical quality, the 60% treatment showed a decrease in crude fiber content and an increase in crude protein which was then followed by an increase in dry matter digestibility, organic matter digestibility and in vitro feed fermentation quality which included an increase in VFA and NH₃ values and a decrease in pH (p<0.05). Based on this study, it can be concluded that the use of starter bacteria obtained from vegetable waste such as cabbage and mustard by 60% is able to have a major impact on the physiological and chemical quality and digestibility of water hyacinth.

Index Terms- Bio-Processing, Water Hyacinth, bacterial starter, vegetable waste.