Agroaldea
It is a project of the Italian Space Agency. The idea of the experiment is to make life easier for astronauts on long-term missions..
A group of researchers works on a project financed by the Italian Space Agency, so that astronauts can grow tomatoes on space stations or on long-duration missions to distant destinations and under extreme conditions.
"Our objective is look for a plant that has a very short cycle, be small and produce a number of bioactive molecules that are effective for life in extreme conditions”, explained Eugenio Benvenuto, head of the biotechnological laboratory Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (AENEAS).
The idea of this experiment is to make life easier for astronauts by allowing them to grow a certain variety of tomatoes when they are on long-term missions outside the planet., like those projected to Mars or the Moon, and in special conditions such as the absence of weight, cosmic radiation or changes in magnetic fields.
“DNA mutations and the appearance of various types of cancer, there are plants like the tomato that are very resistant to this stress”, Eugene points out.
Experience is not new. Last August, NASA announced that members of the International Space Station (ERA) they had eaten lettuces that were grown and harvested in orbit.
“Space garden research is well advanced. Seeds of some plants have already been sent into space to germinate”, Benvenuto noted.
Similar research is being carried out in other parts of the world with other plant species and, in general, the behavior of ecosystems in minimum conditions.
in the italian center it was chosen to develop the tomato crop of the “Micro-Tom” variety without soil where you can put down your roots, but using water and mineral salts and sunlight and led lamps to nourish it.
To justify your choice, Benvenuto highlighted the importance of tomato antioxidant substances such as anthocyanins, whose quantity they intend to improve.
The expectation is that these genetic qualities will not only benefit astronauts on their journeys., but also to consumers on Earth.
“Compared to the molecules that are generated in situations of stress in all living organisms and that in the long term are responsible for aging, DNA mutations and the appearance of various types of cancer, there are plants like the tomato that are very resistant to this stress”, said the ENEA expert.
The researcher Elisabetta Bennici added that the project also seeks to take advantage of the roots of these space plants to produce drugs "that can be useful in the extreme situation of a spacecraft or on another planet.".