Microbiological and Nutritional Analysis of Lettuce Crops Grown on the International Space Station
Christina L. Khodadad, Mary Hummerick, LaShelle E. Spencer, Anirudha R. Dixit, Jeffrey T. Richards, Matthew W. Romeyn, Trent M. Smith, Raymond M. Wheeler, Gioia D. Massa
Abstract
CFU/g), while screening for select human pathogens yielded negative results. Bacterial and fungal isolate identification and community characterization indicated variation in the diversity of genera between leaf and root tissue with diversity being higher in root tissue, and included differences in the dominant genera. The only difference between ground and flight experiments was seen in the third experiment, VEG-03A, with significant differences in the genera from leaf tissue. Flight and ground tissue showed differences in Fe, K, Na, P, S, and Zn content and total phenolic levels, but no differences in anthocyanin and ORAC levels. This study indicated that leafy vegetable crops can produce safe, edible, fresh food to supplement to the astronauts' diet, and provide baseline data for continual operation of the Veggie plant growth units on ISS.