What is the context of your innovation?
Astronauts currently consume mostly freeze-dried foods and packaged snacks. The integration of advanced cultivation systems for antioxidant-rich plants into future carriers/space outposts will provide essential nutrients and promote the psychological well-being of astronauts during future long-duration missions.

What is your project about?
A dwarf tomato variety has been engineered for the accumulation of anthocyanins (important antioxidants) and, together with microgreens, seedlings with optimum nutrients 7-15 days after sowing have been selected as ideal candidates for the astronauts' diet. Its resistance was evaluated in simulated space scenarios.

What are the next steps?
The project is experimental and concerns research for the advancement of agro-bio-technological knowledge to obtain fresh and healthy products, to create a supplement to the astronauts' diet that is functionally active in counteracting the degenerative processes to which astronauts are subject during their stay in space.