Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture's project with strawberries and taioba was adapted from studies already carried out by the researchers for living conditions during a space trip to Mars

By Natalia Nora Marques

A team made up of undergraduate and postgraduate students from USP's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Esalq) in Piracicaba, led by Professor Paulo Hercílio Viegas Rodrigues, was one of those selected for the second stage of the Deep Space Food Challenge, an international food technology challenge proposed by Nasa and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Divided into “US” and “International” categories, the competition selected 28 teams to take part in the second stage, 18 groups from the United States and 10 from abroad.

One of the objectives of the space agencies with the challenge is to find ways for astronauts to consume fresh food during longer journeys, both for food autonomy and for the health of the travelers. Participants in the challenge were provided with some studies indicating physiological and psychological damage in people who consume only ultra-processed foods over a long period.

     Paulo Hercílio Viegas Rodrigues

In this way, growing vegetables in space would provide a healthier diet for the astronauts, minimizing mental health problems, as well as serving as a therapeutic activity, forming part of their routine by being adapted to the adverse conditions they face. During the project we even had to calculate the time that caring for each plant would take on a daily basis so that it would fit into the astronauts' daily lives,” professor Paulo Hercílio Viegas Rodrigues, from the Ornamental Plant Tissue Cultivation Laboratory (LCTPO), told Jornal da USP.

Rodrigues studies ornamental plants using plant tissue culture, and his specialty is floriculture. However, in order to take part in the competition, he had to develop a project focused on food with fresh vegetables that would benefit both the astronauts and food production on planet Earth.

It was also necessary to balance various factors, such as the need for light intensity for growth, nutrient richness and the space available for the plants to grow, when choosing which ones would be part of the project. As a result, two different vegetable crops were presented in the proposal: strawberries and taioba.
Rodrigues says that the strawberry had been one of the last plants they had grown in the absence of natural light when they found out about the challenge. Previous studies carried out by Rodrigues with terpenes during the cultivation of tomatoes found that the concentration of carotenoids was higher than usual in the fruit. Terpenes, also known as essential oils, are substances naturally produced by some plants and which can act as natural pesticides.
The significant increase that the fruit showed in terms of nutrients is something new and was included in the award-winning project. According to the researcher, “this was probably the difference that took our project to the second stage, because the vertical garden model was also used by other participants, but improving the nutritional quality of vegetables in a natural way was an important discovery,” he says.
Rodrigues also believes that these agricultural improvements could contribute to a new line of research within the university that would be reflected for the population in the form of food with higher nutritional values.

The challenge

Another important issue in the challenge is the division of the journey into stages. Food production needs to cover around six months inside the spacecraft during the outward journey, the time spent on Mars, around 18 months, and the return journey, which would take the same amount of time as the outward journey. For this reason, there are different conditions to take into account when choosing what to plant..

Taioba, for example, could not be planted during the trip because of the 2 cubic meter (m³) space allowed by the challenge, but Rodrigues believes that the vegetable would do well growing on Mars. “It's a plant considered the 'Brazilian spinach'. It's protein-rich and rich in iron, B vitamins, as well as having a large leaf surface that doesn't need as much light intensity to develop, which would be very beneficial for astronauts.”

The aim of the challenge is not to obtain a complete food system, but a nutritious proposal that can feed the crew for as long as possible in the adverse conditions of so-called “deep space”. As such, the Esalq project focused on guaranteeing quality nutrients through plants that are easy to maintain for these astronauts.

Next step

“USP will have an active international technical and scientific project with Nasa and CSA for at least 12 months, between January and December 2022”

According to the professor, the rules and registration for Phase 2 were announced on November 15 and will begin in January 2022 and end in December 2022. “In Phase 2 we will have to develop the project proposed by our team. Five finalists will then be selected for Phase 3, which has not yet been announced. Phase 3 won't take place until 2023. Therefore, USP will have an active international technical and scientific project with Nasa and the CSA for at least 12 months,” says Rodrigues. Competitors in the International category do not receive cash prizes, but technical and scientific recognition, as well as access to partnerships in this area of knowledge.

Throughout the first phase of the challenge, the group relied solely on the research grants they were already receiving. With the announcement that they had qualified for the next phase, they have already started looking for funding for the project, which involves assembling a prototype of what was presented in the first phase. “The project is theoretical, so there is nothing physically working. That's why we're worried about resources, since we're going to represent Brazil in this challenge and we don't have the funds to assemble the prototype,” he says.

Many of the teams classified for the new stage are linked to companies and have more technological and financial resources to develop the project. According to the researcher, access to high-tech equipment can be a major challenge for the team he coordinates. Despite this, he is hopeful about the new possibilities for discoveries that this process should promote.

The team includes undergraduate students Christian Aparecido Demétrio, Enrico Stephano Oliveira Mucciolo, Laura Minatel Bortolato, and postgraduate students Lilia Castro Pereira and Jéssica Fernanda de Oliveira Jacob.

More information: e-mail phrviegas@usp.br, with professor Paulo Hercílio Viegas Rodrigues