WAITRO Members Introduced Innovative Ideas on the Utilization of Microorganisms for Food, Health and Wellness

The Webinar on “Small Things but Giant Steps to BCG and Resilient Economy: Food, Health, Wellness for the Future and Business Opportunity” took place on March 29th, 2022. This event was organized by Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR), WAITRO member and Regional Focal Point (RFP) for Asia and the Pacific.

This webinar aimed at responding to the demands seen on the survey of regional members. Thus, the event focused on Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) and Circular Economy.

The one-day webinar presented key speakers from four WAITRO member organizations. They discussed topics related to bioresources, agricultural technologies, innovative ways of food production, and more.

The agenda included short presentations, given by the following speakers:

• Dr. Bundit Fungsin, Director of Expert Centre of Innovative Health Food (InnoFood), TISTR, Thailand, talked about Microorganisms and their Potential Application Trends
• Dr. Sung-Yuan Hsieh, Director of Bioresource Collection and Research Center, FIRDI, Taiwan, focused on Research and application of microorganism for food: Bioresources center underpinning the bioeconomy development in Taiwan
• Dr. Nasisorn Suksridechacin, Researcher of Biodiversity Research Center (BRC), TISTR, Thailand, discussed about Probiotics 101: Precious Life inside Us
• Mr. Hing-Yuen Chan and Dr. Yang-Cheng Kuo, FIRDI, Taiwan, introduced the Technology transfer of microorganism research: Case Study on (1) Lactic acid bacteria: from microbial identification to market, and (2) Photosynthetic bacteria: farming application
• Dr. Joachim Offenberg, Senior Researcher, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark, talked about Weaver Ant Farming: Green Technology for Resilient Farmer Economy
• Sandra Balsells, R&D Senior Researcher, Bioresources and Agrifood Technologies, Environmental & BIO Technologies, Leitat Technological Center (LEITAT), Spain, presented her as experience as Winner of WAITRO Innovation Award 2021: SMARTinFOOD – Insect-based Food Sources to Supplement Nutrient Deficiencies in Vulnerable Areas

This webinar was tailored to scientists of research and technology organizations, universities in Thailand and overseas countries as well as Private companies or SMEs, which are interested in R&D or business related to insect and novel food source.

The event had great success, having 159 registrations for participation. The attendants had the opportunity to learn on utilization of microorganisms as trends and application for health food and products, and business opportunity from insect or ant farming as novel and alternative protein source.

If you miss the event, you can watch it here