Can foods be fermented in microgravity? Astronauts of the International Space Station have shown that and have tried it by making miso, which has a smell and taste similar to earthlorm, but with a slight touch to nut and more toasted.
The experiment he publishes today in Iscience is led by the American Institute of Massachusetts (MIT) and its authors hope it helps expand the culinary options of astronauts and improve the quality of life of long -term space travelers.
Fermentation in space “is possible with certainty and with satisfactory results”, but the spatial environment “mold” that process, says the study.
Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning that is made fermenting cooked soybeans and salt.
The researchers conclude in their research that, combining metagenomic, metabolomic and sensory data, “the space miso is a recognizable and safe miso.” This finding suggests that other types of food fermentation could also be carried out with security and success in space.
The space environment in low terrestrial orbit, where the space station is located, has characteristics such as microgravity and increased radiation, which could influence the growth and metabolism of microbes and, therefore, in the functioning of fermentation.
Thus, the researchers wanted to explore their effects checking whether the food fermentation was possible in the space laboratory and what flavor would have, according to the main co -author Joshua Evans, of the Technical University of Denmark.
You may be interested: Chiapas coffee and cocoa producers ask EU to exempt tariffs
EEI astronautas prove that miso can be fermented, although he knows a bit different
The team sent to the Space Station, in March 2020, a small container of ‘Future miso’, which fermented for 30 days before returning to the earth in the form of miso.
To be able to compare, two other equal lots were fermented on Earth: one in Cambridge (EU) and another in Copenhagen. All samples had environmental detection boxes that controlled the fermentation environment, temperature, humidity, pressure and radiation.
When the miso of the space station returned to the Earth, the team analyzed its microbial communities, flavor compounds and sensory properties. The result was that there were notable differences in the bacterial communities present in the misuses.
“Fermentation (in the space station) illustrates how a living system on a microbial scale can prosper thanks to the diversity of its microbial community, which highlights the potential of life in space”, in the words of Maggie Coblentz, of the MIT and co -author of the study, cited by Iscience
The team also compared the flavor and aroma of the spatial miso with the land and saw that the samples mostly contained the same aromatic compounds and similar amino acid profiles.
Both the samples of the space laboratory, as those of land had good flavor, with similar profiles of umami salty flavor recognizable as miso, but that of the station had more toasted nut flavor.
“By gathering microbiology, the chemistry of flavor, sensory science and broader social and cultural considerations, our study opens new ways to explore how life changes when it travels to new environments such as space,” Evans considered.
COBLENTZ provides that the impact of this research extends far beyond a simple miso jar made in space. “We have used something as fundamental as food as a starting point to initiate conversations about social structures in space and the value of domestic functions in the fields of science and engineering.”
With EFE information.
Do you like photos and news? Follow us on our Instagram
