Identifying a new candidate space crop: the alpine strawberry Fragaria vesca

Area of Science:

• Space agriculture
• Horticultural science
• Astrobiology

Background:

• Long-duration space missions require sustainable food sources beyond preserved rations.
• Fresh food cultivation in space is crucial for crew well-being and mission success.
• Strawberries (Fragaria sp.) are candidates for space crops due to their nutritional and sensory qualities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the potential of alpine strawberry (F. vesca) as a space crop.
• To compare F. vesca (Hawaii 4 accession) with commercial strawberry (F. x ananassa 'Delizz') under simulated space conditions.
• To assess the impact of propagation method (seed vs. runner) on F. vesca growth.

Main Methods:

• Hydroponic cultivation in a simulated space habitat environment.
• Comparison of F. vesca and F. x ananassa 'Delizz' grown from seed and F. vesca from runner plantlets.
• Measurement of growth parameters including leaf area, root length, and dry biomass at multiple time points.

Main Results:

• Seed-grown F. vesca exhibited significantly higher biomass accumulation than F. x ananassa 'Delizz' in the initial weeks.
• By day 78, total biomass and harvest index were comparable between seed-grown F. vesca and F. x ananassa 'Delizz'.
• Seed-grown F. vesca showed superior specific leaf area, and produced more flowers and fruit than F. x ananassa 'Delizz'.

Conclusions:

• F. vesca grown from seed demonstrates potential for space cultivation, outperforming F. x ananassa 'Delizz' in several key growth and yield metrics.
• The Hawaii 4 accession of F. vesca is currently unsuitable for space due to excessive runner production.
• Future research should focus on runnerless F. vesca varieties, seed propagation, and genetic optimization for enhanced space crop performance.