We could grow chickpeas on the Moon, scientists say.
New research simulated the lunar soil – technically known as regolith – and successfully grew a specific chickpea there, for the first time.
The scientists claim that the findings could be a big step forward for understanding how humans could eventually live on the Moon.
Nasa and other space agencies hope that people will land and then live on the lunar surface in the years to come. But among the many questions about how that will work is one of food, since it may be difficult to grow anything in the harsh environment and rough soil of the lunar surface.
But scientists hope that the new study shows that it will be possible to grow crops on the Moon so that humans can eat them.
In the research, scientists simulated the makeup of the lunar regolith, or moon dirt, modelled on samples brought back during Nasa’s Apollo missions. That dirt lacks the organic material required for plants to live, and contains heavy metals that could be toxic to plants.
The scientists added vermicompost, which comes from red wiggler earthworms and contains essential minerals. The earthworms create it by eating organic material, such as food scraps or cotton from clothes or hygiene products that astronauts may have anyway.
The team also added the fungi arbuscular mycorrhizae before the chickpeas were planted. The fungi works alongside the chickpeas, taking up some important organic materials and reducing the heavy metals.
The chickpeas were then planted into simulated lunar soil in a range of mixes. They found that mixtures with up to 75 per cent dirt created chickpeas that could be harvested.
The fungi also seemed to survive once it was added, suggesting that it could only need to be introduced once.
Researchers note, however, that it remains unclear how nutritious the chickpeas actually are. They may be absorbing toxic materials in the growing process, for instance.
The work is reported in a new paper, ‘Bioremediation of lunar regolith simulant through mycorrhizal fungi and plant symbioses enables chickpea to see’, published in the journal Scientific Reports.
