Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Pick-and-eat space crop production flight testing on the International Space Station

Jess M. Bunchek, Mary Hummerick, LaShelle E. Spencer, Matthew W. Romeyn, Millennia Young, Robert C. Morrow, Cary A. Mitchell, Grace L. Douglas, Raymond M. Wheeler, Gioia D. Massa

Journal of Plant Interactions · 2024

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Summary

Fresh, nutritious, palatable produce for crew consumption on long-duration spaceflight missions may provide health-promoting, bioavailable nutrients and enhance the dietary experience. VEG-04A and VEG-04B explored growing leafy greens on the International Space Station using the Veggie Vegetable Production System. Two flight tests with ground controls were conducted in 2019 growing mizuna mustard, where Veggie chambers were set to different red-to-blue-to-green light formulations. Light quality affects plant growth, nutrition, microbiology, and organoleptic characteristics on Earth, and we examined how these vary in microgravity and under different harvest scenarios. Astronauts harvested and weighed mizuna and completed organoleptic evaluations. Flight samples were returned to Earth for nu

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1080/17429145.2023.2292220
Catalogue ID
SNmok3iz4l-0trco3
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