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SUMMARY:From Traditional Food to Emerging Industry: The Rise of Wolffia in
  Thailand
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261001T090000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261001T093000Z
DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260916T060944Z
UID:indico-contribution-2971@cern.ch
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Metha Meetam ()\nWolffia globosa has been consumed i
 n Thailand and neighboring countries for\ngenerations. However\, its consu
 mption declined substantially\, partly due to limited\nawareness of its nu
 tritional properties and the unreliable availability of biomass. Prior to\
 n2020\, W. globosa was primarily harvested from natural ponds\, resulting 
 in low yields\,\nseasonal variability\, and food safety concerns. The taxo
 nomic and genetic diversity of\nWolffia and other duckweed genera in the r
 egion was also poorly understood.\nOver the past decade\, growing demand f
 or plant-based proteins and wellness foods\,\ntogether with increasing rec
 ognition of duckweed as an alternative protein source\, has\nrenewed inter
 est in this tiny duckweed among Thai consumers. Driven largely by Thai\nst
 artups developing large-scale cultivation technologies\, related food prod
 ucts ranging from\nfresh ingredients to innovative health foods are now av
 ailable in more than 300 shops and\nrestaurants nationwide. The Thai gover
 nment has also established Good Agricultural\nPractice (GAP) standards for
  W. globosa production and promoted public awareness of its\nnutritional a
 nd health benefits. Currently\, 150 farms are GAP-certified\, producing an
 \nestimated 500 tonnes of fresh biomass annually\, with production project
 ed to reach 3\,000\ntonnes in 2027.\nThe expansion of the industry has bee
 n accompanied by rapid growth in scientific\nresearch. Duckweed-related pu
 blications increased from an average of 1.8 articles per year\nduring 2016
 –2020 to 9.25 during 2021–2024\, followed by 39 publications in 2025 a
 nd 46 in\n2026. These developments demonstrate the rapid emergence of Wolf
 fia spp. as a high-value\ncrop and highlight Thailand’s growing role in 
 advancing duckweed research and\ncommercialization.\n\nhttps://indico.unin
 a.it/event/117/contributions/2971/
LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F
 ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese
URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2971/
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