New Delhi, July 9 (IANS) Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, currently onboard the International Space Station as part of the Axiom Space Mission 4, has conducted experiments on sprouting seeds like green gram and fenugreek on the orbital lab, said NASA.

Shukla is the first Indian to be onboard the ISS and the second astronaut from the country, after Rakesh Sharma, to be in space.

While in space, Shukla is undertaking several experiments, developed under a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and NASA.

The experiment named Sprouting Salad Seeds in Space (SPROUTS), involves sprouting Greengram and Fenugreek seeds — commonly consumed on the Indian subcontinent — in space to analyse “their growth, nutritional quality, hormonal and genetic response, and microbial content”.

Even as sending sufficient food on space missions is costly and unsustainable on long journeys, the SPROUTS study findings could pave the way for a sustainable food production solution in space. It will help astronauts grow plants to provide food and support crew nutrition and well-being.

“Plant-based food production systems can play a crucial role in achieving the long-term goals of human space exploration. The sprouted seeds can offer a highly nutritious alternative, providing more nutritional value per unit mass as compared to fully mature plants,” NASA said.

“This investigation also lays the groundwork for future research to develop India-centric salad crops that help ensure an efficient and sustainable food source for long-term missions,” and “marks an important first step toward accommodating the unique dietary needs of Indian crew members,” NASA said.

The research aims to decode how the unique environment of space influences the sprouting percentage (germination), the nutritional composition, and the dynamics of phytohormones during sprouting.

“Insights from space-based sprouting also could inform advances in controlled environment agriculture, boosting the nutritional quality of food grown in challenging terrestrial conditions” on Earth, the US space agency said.

Lucknow-born Shukla is on a 14-day scientific expedition on the ISS as part of the Axiom-4 mission, along with three other astronauts from the US, Poland, and Hungary.

–IANS

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