October 1, 2025 – Dr. Kobkul Laotheng, Deputy Director of BIOTEC was honored to receive the 2nd Runner-Up Award in the Industrial Category at the “2025 Thai Rice Innovation” along with a trophy, certificate, and prize money of 20,000 baht. The award ceremony was held during the National Innovation Day 2025 event and presented by Dr. Sumet Tantivejkul, Chairman of the Thai Rice Foundation under Royal Patronage. The event was organized by the Thai Rice Foundation under Royal Patronage and the National Innovation Agency (Public Organization).
On this occasion, NSTDA executives led by Dr. Somboon Sahasithiwat, Executive Vice President of NSTDA, and Assistant Professor Dr. Chaowaree Adthalungrong, Executive Director of BIOTEC, along with research teams and NSTDA personnel, joined in congratulating Dr. Kobkul Laoteng and team.
The award-winning work is “Green Rice Biome: Bioactive Compounds from Thai Rice and Rice Sprouts through Precision Fermentation Innovation” under the development of NSTDA’s Service Platform for Food & Functional Ingredients (FoodSERP). This innovation adds value to Thai rice through precision fermentation technology. A pilot process has been developed to produce functional compounds from organic jasmine rice through bioproduct manufacturing processes, utilizing the principles of biotransformation with microorganisms.
This precision fermentation technology is considered a high-potential green technology innovation that has been applied to add value to Thai rice raw materials in order to develop innovative production processes for functional ingredients for cosmetics in the skincare product category.
