Abstract

Plant Extraction for Health Nutrition using Flow Chemistry in “Plants for Space (P4S)”

Volker Hessel, Professor, The University of Adelaide

Space exploration is not only about spacecraft, energy, and habitats. Humans must have all what they need for survival and, moreover, feel well in space during their voyages, when facing the extreme conditions. Space food through grown plants for space is most crucial for human space exploration.

The ARC Centre of Excellence Plants for Space (P4S) reprograms and fortifies plants to act as ‘biomanufactories’, producing medicines and health supplements. Those can be extracted from the plants by means of solvent extraction, using continuous-flow chemistry as frontier approach. This is assisted by plasma treatment of the biomass, to break cell walls in order to facilitate access to their internal value materials. Health nutrient examples, bio-resourced through solvent extraction, are quercetin, beta carotene, and p-phycocyanin. This solvent extraction is one step within a designed circular plant growth in space, for which the other steps will be presented as well. The health nutrients are formulated to liquid space medicines (nanoemulsions, nanoemulgel) by means of flow chemistry, and their stability under microgravity has been investigated (simulations, cosmic-ray exposure on Earth, sounding rocket flight, ISS experiment). A life cycle assessment (LCA) study has been conducted to decipher the environmental impact of plants grown for space (vertical/indoor farming) and the subsequent health nutrient solvent extraction. As an outlook, new kinds of space foods (cheese, snack, steak) will be presented.