Duckweed, or Water Lentils, as novel crop or protein source
Feeding the growing population within the limits of our planet (e.g., agricultural land), is one of the biggest challenges we are facing. Therefore, more and more research is being done on crops with extreme productivity such as duckweed. This floating aquatic plant can double its biomass daily in the most ideal conditions. In this way, more can be produced on a limited area. In addition, the crop is high in protein (30 – 45% on a dry matter basis), which means that the plant can produce easily 3-7 ton proteins per hectare in the EU. Higher productivities have also been mentioned. On fresh weight, the plant contains around 2-3 % of protein.
Fresh duckweed has a high water content, making storage and transport challenging as a fresh crop. Processing can solve this, while also enhancing its nutritional value.
On the following web page you'll find an introduction to several processing techniques that are considered for either food and feed applications.
Important note, in 2025, only fresh duckweed (2 wolffia and 2 lemna species) and one protein extract are allowed in food production by the EFSA.
Duckweed is considered a novel food. This means that before duckweed can be commercialized as a food in the EU, it first had to go through a Novel Food (NF) procedure, evaluated by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority). A NF is an ingredient that was not consumed or not consumed to a significant degree for human consumption in the EU before 15 May 1997. After a long traject of several years, the placing on the market of Lemna minor and Lemna gibba plants as novel food was finally approved in February 2025.
Non-exhaustive list of companies producing duckweed for food:
- GreenOnyx: https://www.greenonyx.ag/
- Hinoman: https://www.hinoman.com/ and https://eatmankai.com/
- Flo Wolffia: Tiniest Plant, Giant Nutrients | flo Wolffia
Interesting references:
- Appenroth, K. J., Sree, K. S., Böhm, V., Hammann, S., Vetter, W., Leiterer, M., & Jahreis, G. (2017). Nutritional value of duckweeds (Lemnaceae) as human food. Food chemistry, 217, 266-273.