Modular plant culture systems for life support functions

The current state of knowledge with regard to culture of higher plants in the zero-G environment is assessed; and concepts for the empirical development of small plant growth chambers for the production of salad type vegetables on space shuttle or space station are evaluated. American and Soviet space flight experiences in gravitational biology are summarized

Glucosinolates Content in Non-elicited Plant Culture, Elicited Plant Culture and Wild Plant of Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale), a green vegetable belongs to the Brassicaceae, contains considerable amount of vitamins, minerals and secondary metabolites such as glucosinolates (GS). Watercress contains phenyl ethyl glucosinolate (gluconasturtiin), a precursor of phenyl ethyl isothiocyanate, which is widely reported to restrain the growth of cancer cells. The content of secondary metabolites and other compounds in plants is affected by different growth conditions such as pH, temperature, light intensity and nutrient supply. Thus, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the concentration of gluconasturtiin (and other GS) from in vitro grown watercress under non-elicited and elicited plant culture with wild plant of N. officinale. The samples were collected from watercress growing wild in a spring in Kundasang area, Ranau Sabah and subjected to sterilization to establish N. officinale in vitro culture under laboratory condition. The sterilization was done by using Chlorox® solution (5% v/v) containing Tween 20 to obtain 90% survival rate of the plants. Explants were grown in glass jar containing hormone-free with 30 g/L of sucrose and pH was adjusted to 5.7 - 5.8. The medium was solidified with 4 g/L-1 of agar and sterilized at 121°C for 20 minutes. All cultures were kept inside growth chamber at 25°C under 16 hours photoperiod for 30 days before sub-cultured into fresh medium treated with elicitors. Different concentration of elicitors tested in this study were chitosan (10, 20, 40, 60, 100 mg/mL), casein hydrolysate (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 g/L) and coconut water (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 % v/v). The results showed that gluconasturtiin and benzyl glucosinolate (glucotropaeolin) increased over five-fold and six-fold, respectively, in non-elicited plant culture compared to the wild N. officinale. Compared to the non-elicited, the concentrations of these GS were significantly lower by 52 – 76 % for gluconasturtiin and 33 – 55 % for glucotropaeolin in all the in vitro N. officinale treated with the elicitors. Nonetheless, the GS concentrations in all the in vitro N. officinale were higher compared to the matured wild plant. Tissue culture method could be a valuable alternative for higher production of GS in N. officinale with short period of plant development (30 days in this study)

Air pollutant production by algal cell cultures

The production of phytotoxic air pollutants by cultures of Chlorella vulgaris and Euglena gracilis is considered. Algal and plant culture systems, a fumigation system, and ethylene, ethane, cyanide, and nitrogen oxides assays are discussed. Bean, tobacco, mustard green, cantaloupe and wheat plants all showed injury when fumigated with algal gases for 4 hours. Only coleus plants showed any resistance to the gases. It is found that a closed or recycled air effluent system does not produce plant injury from algal air pollutants

Reuse of Water and Nutrients in Soilless Plant Culture

This dissertation proposes two approaches to mitigating the dependency of soilless culture on scarce mineral fertilisers. The first approach aims to increase the lifetime of the NS used in recirculating hydroponic systems, while the second approach presents a holistic method for the treatment and use of aquacultural sludge as NS for soilless growth systems. This method includes two steps: nutrient mobilisation using aerobic digestion (AD), followed by solids precipitation using the biopolymer chitosan as the flocculant. The recovered NS was used to grow lettuce in a recirculating hydroponic system. The outcome of the first approach showed that NS can be used for several weeks before discharge, even though many growers discard recycling NS at weekly intervals. In this study, NS was reused for 6 weeks, corresponding to a production of 1 kg lettuce per 10 litres tank volume of NS, in a closed hydroponic system without compromising the yield and apparent quality of lettuce. The results from the second approach indicated that AD is an efficient method to mobilise nutrients in aquacultural waste to concentrations close to or exceeding the mineral levels recommended for soilless growth systems. In addition, the biopolymer chitosan proved to be an efficient and safe alternative for solids removal from aerobically digested aquacultural waste. The recovered NS was successfully used for lettuce production in a closed hydroponic system, with yield and quality comparable to those of lettuce grown with conventional NS. The results obtained clearly show the possibility of substituting synthetic fertilisers with recovered NS from aquaculture waste, which can be considered an alternative and resource-efficient fertilisation strategy for soilless culture systems. Both approaches are described in this dissertation, while detailed explanations of the materials and methods used, as well as the obtained results, can be found in the appended papers.publishedVersio

Analysis of GMO Plum Plant Culture in System Operations Failure

GMO plum trees are being evaluated at the Kennedy Space Center as a possible candidate for future space crops. Previously conducted horticultural testing compared the performance of several plum genotypes in controlled environment chambers, resulting in a down-selection to the NASA-11 genotype. Precursory studies determined the water use requirements to sustain the plants as well as the feasibility of grafting non-GMO plum scions onto GMO plum rootstocks of NASA-5, NASA-10, and NASA-11 genotypes. This study follows the growth and horticultural progress of plum trees and in-vitro cultures from August 2017 to November 2017, and provides supplemental support for future GMO plum studies. The presence of Hurricane Irma in early September 2017 resulted in the plants undergoing material deterioration from major changes to their overall horticultural progress

PENERAPAN TEKNOLOGI INTEGRATING FISH AND PLANT CULTURE UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KETAHANAN PANGAN KELUARGA PADA MASA PANDEMIC WABAH COVID-19 DI DESA CAHAYA NEGERI KABUPATEN SELUMA

Telah dilakukan kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat (PPM) dengan tujuan untuk menerapkan teknologi tepat guna integrating fish and plant culture untuk meningkatkan ketahanan pangan keluarga pada masa pandemic Covid-19. Kegiatan PPM ini dilaksanakan dengan metode pelatihan, demonstrasi, dan pendampingan. Pelaksanaan pelatihan dibagi menjadi 2 sesi yaitu sesi pertama pemaparan materi dengan menggunakan metode ceramah, demonstrasi, dan diskusi. Sesi ke dua pendampingan kepada untuk menerapkan teknologi tersebut. Instrument yang digunakan dalam kegiatan PPM ini adalah angket untuk menjaring data respon peserta terhadap kegiatan pelatihan yang telah dilaksanakan.  Kegiatan pelatihan ini melibatkan 15 orang warga dari desa bukit peninjauan 1 cahaya negeri dengan tetap mematuhi protocol klesehatan. Jumlah peserta dibatasi mengingat kita harus menerapkan social distancing dan menghindari kerumunan. Perkembangan ikan lele dan sayuran diukur melalui observasi langsung. Berdasarkan hasil kegiatan pelatihan diketahui bahwa media untuk menerapkan teknologi integrating fish and plant culture berhasil dibuat. Berdasarkan hasil angket respon diketahu bahwa rata-rata 93% dari total peserta sangat setuju bahwa kegiatan pelatihan yag telah dilakukan memberikan banyak manfaat khusus nya untuk pemenuhan kebutuhan pangan keluarga terutama dimasa pandemic. 87% dari total peserta pelatihan menyatkan bahwa mereka dapat memahami dengan baik materi yang telah disampaikan. Peserta pelatihan menyatakan bahwa teknologi yang diajarkan didalam kegiatan pelatihan mudah untuk diterapkan secara mandiri dengan biaya yang relative rendah dan pemeliharaan yang lebih mudah. Berdasarkan hasil observasi, pertumbuhan ikan lele dalam media ember dan pertumbuhan sayuran dalam media netpot relative sangat baik. Berdasarkan hasil dan pembahsan dapat disimpulkan bahwa teknologi tepat guna berupa integrating fish and plant culture dapat menjadi solusi permasalahan ketahanan pangan keluarga dimasa pandemic covid-19 karena mudah untuk diterapkan, biaya reatif murah, pemeliharaan yang relative mudah

Characterization of the Water Soluble Component of Inedible Residue from Candidate CELSS Crops

Recycling of inorganic nutrients required for plant growth will be a necessary component of a fully closed, bioregenerative life support system. This research characterized the recovery of plant nutrients from the inedible fraction of three crop types (wheat, potato, and soybean) by soaking, or leaching, in water. A considerable portion of the dry weight of the inedible biomass was readily soluble (29 percent for soybean, 43 percent for wheat, and 52 percent for potato). Greater weight loss from potato was a result of higher tissue concentrations of potassium, nitrate, and phosphate. Approximately 25 percent of the organic content of the biomass was water soluble, while the majority of most inorganic nutrients, except for calcium and iron, were recovered in the leachate. Direct use of the leachates in hydroponic media could provide between 40-90 percent of plant nutrient demands for wheat, and 20-50 percent of demand for soybean and potato. Further evaluation of leaching as a component of resource recovery scheme in a bioregenerative system requires study of (1) utilization of plant leachates in hydroponic plant culture; and (2) conversion of organic material (both soluble and insoluble) into edible, or other useful, products