Establishing baselines for prebiotic production in controlled environments for applications in space and vertical farming.

ABSTRACT: Prebiotics might contribute to astronauts' health in space, yet their production in Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) remains largely unexplored. Here, chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) exhibited the most appropriate characteristics among seven candidate species as the ideal crop for space prebiotic production systems. Furthermore, we evaluated chicory's performance under different light intensities (250 μmol m^-2 s^-1 and 500 μmol m^-2 s^-1 of photosynthetically active radiation) and growing cycle lengths (76 and 91 days after sowing) to optimize prebiotic production. Our findings reveal chicory's remarkable adaptability to fully controlled growing conditions and its ability to accumulate high levels of inulin in the young taproot, des

SUBMITTER: Battistelli A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11804542 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature