A team of scientists from Mahidol University in Thailand examined the possibility of using wolffia algae as a way to produce oxygen and food in space, on Mars and other planets. This situation was officially reported Web site European Space Agency (ESA).
Wolfia belongs to the duckweed subfamily and is considered the smallest flowering plant in the world. It is common in water bodies of Southeast Asian countries, where it is eaten in soups and salads.
To test how the organism would survive in space conditions, the algae were placed in a centrifuge and exposed to hypergravity of 20 g, or 20 times the force of gravity on Earth.
“So far we have seen almost no difference between plant growth at 1g and simulated microgravity. We want to expand our observations to gain insight into how plants respond and adapt to all gravity conditions. Another advantage of Wolfia is that it is a fairly short-lived plant , so the entire life cycle can be reviewed within 5-10 days,” said project leader Tatpong Thulyananda.
After two weeks of testing, the scientific team turns the algae into solid pellets for further chemical analysis.
Previous scientists to create Algae contains substances that help fight coronavirus.