Water fern gains more evidence as safe potential global food insecurity solution

Is the floating freshwater fern commonly called Carolina azolla the potential answer to global food insecurity or a possible threat to humanity? On the heels of a study published earlier this year on the plant's nutrition and digestibility, a team learned of concerns about the plant's potential toxin content. The researchers joined an international effort to test Azolla and found that it does not contain cyanotoxins, potent toxins produced by a type of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, associated with the plant.