At ENEA “space” plants for the astronauts of the future

Plants grown in space to provide fresh food to the space stations of the future.

This is the objective of the research conducted at ENEA on “Micro-Tom”, a tomato cultivar, originally an ornamental plant, that can be grown in a “vegetable garden” in space.

The studies conducted at the ENEA Casaccia Research Center within the project BIOxTREME, funded by the Italian Space Agency, analyze plants as a potential source of both antioxidants and antimicrobials, strengthening the immune systems of the astronauts living aboard space modules, in an environment worsened by the proliferation of microbes imported from the earth.

The objective is the creation of a vegetal “ideotype”, resistant to extraterrestrial conditions such as weightlessness, cosmic radiations and electromagnetic fields.

These genetic combinations could produce plants containing large amounts of antioxidants such as anthocyanins, the so called “antidote molecules”, effective against aging and present in large quantities in dark fruits.

In addition, both plants and roots can be a good source of proteins with recognized pharmacological properties.

Root coltures working as natural bioreactors, capable of synthesizing high value added molecules such as antibodies, peptides and immunostimulants, are in fact being studied.

They are very valuable molecules, synthesized by lab-created genes.

The roots thus obtained can be grown under controlled conditions, adding to the colture medium salts, sugar and vitamins.

These roots have proved resistant to high doses of gamma and protons radiations (up to 10 GY) and proliferation was not impaired even after exposure to doses lethal for other organisms.

Heavy stress conditions and possible metabolism alterations deriving from it, are carefully analyzed by means of advanced molecular techniques detecting the smallest meaningful variation.

For more information please contact:

Eugenio Benvenuto, ENEA Casaccia Research Center, eugenio.benvenuto@enea.it