Final Poster for New Crop Testing Nutritional and Organoleptic Analysi

Bunchek, Jess M.

Romeyn, Matthew W.

Spencer, Lashelle E.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

New Crop Testing Nutritional and Organoleptic Analysis
LaShelle E. Spencer1*, Jess M. Bunchek2 and Mathew W. Romeyn3
1AECOM/LASSO, Kennedy Space Center, FL; 2SURA/LASSO, Kennedy Space Center, FL 3NASA, Kennedy Space Center, FL 
*Presenter contact: lashelle.e.spencer@nasa.gov
Background
• Long-duration missions beyond low Earth
orbit will encounter challenges in
maintaining adequate nutrition and
acceptability in the food system
• In situ production of fresh produce can
supplement nutrients deficient in the
stored diet
• Our goal is to increase the number of crops
that meet nutritional requirements and
crew acceptability which can be reliably
grown in space under narrow band LEDs
and elevated CO2 (~3000 ppm)
• A variety of crop types are necessary to
address known nutritional deficits (Vitamin
C, Vitamin K, Potassium) in the stored
astronaut diet, including leafy greens,
which are discussed here
Materials and Methods
• Eight cultivars of leafy greens were tested:
‘Toscano’ Kale, ‘Extra Dwarf’ Pac Choi, ‘Amara’
Mustard, ‘Dragoon’ lettuce, ‘Outredgeous’
lettuce, ‘Shungiku’ Chrysanthemum, ‘Red
Russian’ Kale, and ‘Barese’ Swiss Chard
• All test plants were grown 4 inch pots containing
70:30 Fafard 2B:Arcillite media, in controlled
environmental chambers under the following
conditions: 3000 ppm CO2, 50% Relative
Humidity, 23°C, and PPF ~300µmol m-2 s-1 (Fig. 1)
• Plants were automatically fertigated with
1200µS Peters 13-2-13 and harvested 28 days
after planting (Fig. 2)
• Light source: Heliospectra RX30
• Near UV (385nm) ~5 µmol m-2 s-1, 50% Red
(630 and 660nm), 27% Green (530nm), and
23% Blue (450nm)
• Samples were nutritionally analyzed by outside
lab (Eurofins, Des Moines, IA) for proximate
analysis, Fe, Mg, P, K, S, Vit. B1, Vit. C and Vit.
K1.
• Samples were washed, packaged and shipped to
Johnson Space Center Food Laboratory for
Organoleptic testing (Fig. 3)
Results
Nutritional
• Of the eight cultivars tested, ‘Toscano’ Kale tested
most nutrient dense containing the highest levels of
P, Mg, Ca, Vit. C and calories
• Vit. K1 (1.32-2.03 µg/g FW) and Potassium (0.40-
0.77%) content tested similar among all cultivars
• Vitamin C varied the most between crop types
Organoleptic Testing
• All crops passed overall acceptability with a average 
score of 6 or higher
• ‘Dragoon’ Lettuce tested the highest with an average 
score of 7.6
Overall Organoleptic Acceptability
Average Score (Scale = 1-9) Selected Taster Comments
'Amara' Mustard 6.6 Interesting sample. Aftertaste is similar to eating green beans.
'Barese' Swiss Chard 6.2
Fine if you're expecting to eat it raw…though I prefer to eat it 
cooked.
'Dragoon' Lettuce 7.6
I like this one quite a lot. It's not too bitter,...would go well on a 
sandwich or maybe [used as a] wrap.
'Outredgeous' 
Lettuce 6.6
I like the color and texture. There isn't much aroma and flavor, 
but that's what I expect from lettuce.
'Extra Dwarf' Pak 
Choi 6.8
Good texture with some crunchiness, flavor is ok with some 
bitterness/earthiness
'Red Russian' Kale 6.7
I really liked the vivid green color with the purple. It has a 
strong taste.
'Shungiku' 6.2 Nice parsley-like flavor.
'Toscano' Kale 6.6 Very good texture and appearance. A little bitter.
All crops passing.
8.34
0.81 1.18 1.37
2.41
9.29
0.95
14.80
Av
g.
 V
it.
 C
on
ce
nt
ra
tio
n 
(m
g/
10
0g
 FW
) Average Vitamin C Concentration
Acknowledgments: This work was funded by NASA’s Human Research Program. Many thanks to KSC’s Space 
Crop Production team, including the legions of interns (Fig. 2) that made this project possible.
Figure  1
Figure  2
Figure  3
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20200000694 2020-03-11T12:32:53+00:00Z


New Crop Testing Nutritional and Organoleptic Analysis

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