The European Space Agency (ESA) said this week at the end-products food show SIAL that the current focus for its scientists is to solve the problem of food production on long space missions to Mars - a conundrum that could bring new production methods to the food industry.
"We cannot grow every type of plant so we have to select a few which can be the basis for multiple dishes. At the moment we are experimenting with eight plants, but we may have to raise this number," said Christophe Lasseur, ESA's biological life support coordinator, responsible for recycling and production of air, water and food for long-term manned missions.
A mission to Mars is likely to last at least 24 months, six to go, six to return and 12 months on the planet. With the criteria 'the less food to transport from Earth the better', the initial objective is that food grown in space should cover 5 to 10 per cent during the mission and 40 to 50 per cent during a stay on another planet, a challenge for the food technologists.
The European Space Agency activities follow similar reports from the US equivalent agency NASA earlier this year that said it was targeting a range of crops, including: lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, bell peppers, strawberries, fresh herbs, and radishes. Other baseline crops that require processing would be wheat, soybeans, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, dried beans, rice, and tomatoes.
"As the crew remains on the Moon or Mars surface, crops will be grown to supplement the crew's diet, using plants to revitalise the air and water supply. Methods are needed, therefore, for processing," said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The agency identified a range of areas that need to be tackled by food scientists and include: long-duration, shelf-stable food; advanced packaging; food processing, and food safety.
Once on the lunar or planetary surface, it may be possible to use bulk packaging of meals or snack items but these food products will require specialised processing conditions and packaging materials, said the agency, that is developing systems which use chemical, physical, and biological processes to support 'future human planetary exploration.
One such system might grow crops using hydroponics - growing plants without soil in water containing dissolved nutrients - and then processing them into edible food ingredients or table-ready products.
The raw materials - the crops - could vary in quality, yield and nutrient content over the long-duration missions, posing a challenge for new food processing and storage systems.
"Such variations might affect the shelf stability and functional properties of the bulk ingredients and ultimately, the quality of the final food products," said the space agency.
Food safety in space will focus on monitoring the shelf stability of processed food ingredients and on identification and control of microbial agents of food spoilage, including the development of countermeasures to better their effects. For all food production and processing procedures, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) must be established.
Recent research in Europe into improving the diet of astronauts and the shelf life of foods could find a place in the NASA and ESA galley kitchen. In April this year Franck Salzgeber from the European Space Agency told FoodNavigator.com that a batch of Mediterranean foodstuffs preserved under high pressure were the focus of a new experiment at the International Space Station. The first food experiment of its kind in space, astronauts at the ISS assessed the food products for taste, texture and colour.
"The first step is to investigate the possibility of preserving foods for more than three months, a criteria for the space station," said Salzgeber.
The Mediet experiment consists of an ergonomic tray, made of aluminium, with five items of Mediterranean food from Italy: dried tomatoes, mature cheese, piadina bread (Italian white bread), peaches and chocolate. Italian food firm COOP supplied the food that had undergone the High Pressure Processing (4000-6000 atu) technology, which eliminates enzymes and bacteria without altering the properties of the fresh food.