Duckweed Lemna minor and Lemna gibba authorised as a novel food after manganese was cut to 6 mg/kg fresh weight: the specification also covers microcystins < 23 µg/kg, nodularin < 7 µg/kg and indole-3-acetic acid; in 2022 EFSA could not establish safety at 17–45 mg Mn/kg
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/153, published on 30 January 2025, adds heat-treated Lemna minor and Lemna gibba plants (applicant: Wageningen Plant Research) to the Union list of novel foods, to be eaten like leafy vegetables. In its opinion of 28 September 2022 EFSA could not establish safety because manganese was higher than in other leafy vegetables; in a report of 10 July 2024 it found that limiting manganese in the growth medium reduced its content in Lemna gibba to 6 mg/kg fresh weight — comparable with spinach (up to 9 mg/kg). On this basis the 6 mg/kg limit was written into the specification.
- Specification (annex): plant material grown under controlled conditions — heat-treated small green leaves with some small white roots. Moisture 91–95 g/100 g, protein (N × 6.25) 1–4, carbohydrates 1–3, dietary fibre 0.5–3, ash 1–2, fat 0.2–0.6 g/100 g; oxalates (as calcium oxalate) < 1.6 g/kg, folate < 38 and phylloquinone < 46 µg/100 g; copper < 2.5, iron < 53, manganese ≤ 6, molybdenum < 0.5, zinc < 20, chromium < 1, boron < 15 mg/kg. Label name “Lemna minor and Lemna gibba plants”.
- Contaminants and microbiology (annex): nitrate < 520, nitrite < 1.75, lead < 0.3, cadmium < 0.2, mercury < 0.05, arsenic < 0.05 mg/kg; microcystins < 23 µg/kg, nodularin < 7 µg/kg, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) < 0.1 mg/kg. Aerobic microorganisms < 5000 CFU/g, E. coli and Bacillus cereus < 100 CFU/g, yeasts and moulds < 100 CFU/g, coagulase-positive staphylococci not detected in 10 g, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella — absent in 25 g.
- EFSA opinion of 2022: ten batches (five of each species) from laboratories with accreditation certificates; elements according to NEN-EN 13805 and 17294-2 (ICP-MS). Manganese in the first analysis 17–45 mg/kg fresh weight, after reanalysis 88–380 mg/kg in freeze-dried samples (about 5–21 mg/kg fresh weight), against about 2 mg/kg in leafy vegetables. Nitrate 293.1–512.5, nitrite 0.5–1.5 mg/kg; microcystins, nodularins, anatoxin-a and saxitoxins not detected; pesticide residues (DFG S19) — not detected.
- IAA determined by LC-MS/MS: 58–463 µg/kg dry weight (3.4–23.1 µg/kg fresh weight), below the MRL of 100 µg/kg; in spinach 57, in broccoli 165 µg/kg dry weight. Oxalates 0.10–0.16 g/100 g as calcium oxalate, phytic acid below the LOQ (< 0.14 %). EFSA considered the risk of allergic reactions low, and the content of trace elements and contaminants highly dependent on cultivation conditions and fertiliser composition.