Duckweed

[Phil Bowyer]

First, I am brand new here and this is my first post, so I'd like to start out by saying "Hey" to everyone and I look forward to being part of this community.

So, my question is,  how long does duckweed last in the freezer? 

TIA, 

Phil

[Rick Stillwagon]

There are some great studies on duckweed out there, very extensive.  Drying was the most prevalent method of preserving and storing that I recall. I am pretty sure this is assuming the storage of large volumes.  I would imagine you would want to blanch the duckweed for freezing by boiling for a minute or two. I would imagine longevity would be close to that of other frozen greens.

 

[TCLynx]

I'm not sure, I haven't eaten enough duckweed to know if it's still good or if it's gone bad.

[Carey Ma]

What do you want to use it for? If to freeze for feed then depends if you train your fish to accept mushier, freezer-burned, so method of storage makes a difference. 

If you want it for fresh eating, a thin layer of ice helps protect. 

I dehydrate mine then powderize to use in pellet formula.

[Phil Bowyer]

Thanks for the answers everybody, I really appreciate the input. I am interested in the freezing method as opposed to others because of the nutrient level. 

[Carey Ma]

???...How is freezing superior/ better?

[RupertofOZ]

I vacumn pack, and freeze in smaller quantities... then just remove a bag... slice open and throw into tank...

[Phil Bowyer]

@Carey Ma - Through my research I've read that drying sucks out some of the nutrients, especially if dried in the sun, whereas freezing doesn't affect it as much. In fact, I think there is a thread on here that touches on that. I read through a lot of stuff researching shelf life of frozen duckweed (which I never did find), and the info seemed pretty consistent on nutrient levels for drying vs. freezing. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to imply drying is bad or lacks anything. I'm going to be looking into it more as I think drying would have a longer shelf life than freezing (assuming it doesn't get stale quickly), and if the difference between drying and freezing is negligible, then drying would make better sense. 

[Converse]

    I have put the duckweed I grew this last summer in the freezer.  I have been feeding it to our farm fowl, and they don't seem to mind.  Right now the fish are getting worms, I kind of just stopped giving it to the fish for some reason...But this year we want to grow it in volume ( It is snowing out now, so it will have to wait until Spring actually arrives) but this will mean needing to dry it in volume, since we need the freezer space for human-type food. (But I've read documents online that duckweed can be used in soups!)....SO if birds are any indication, the duckweed I froze this past summer is still good.

 

- Converse

[Phil Bowyer]

Thanks for the info @Converse. Duckweed is big in Thailand. I've never tried it, but I hear it tastes like spinach.