Assessment of Nutrient Stability in Foods from the Space Food System After Long‐Duration Spaceflight on the ISS

Abstract

Maintaining an intact nutrient supply in the food system flown on spacecraft is a critical issue for mission success and crew health. Ground-based evidence indicates that some vitamins may be altered and fatty acids oxidized (and therefore rendered useless, or even dangerous) by long-term storage and by exposure to radiation, both of which will be issues for long-duration exploration missions in space. In this study, the stability of nutrients was investigated in food samples exposed to spaceflight on the Intl. Space Station (ISS). A total of 6 replicates of 5 different space food items, a multivitamin, and a vitamin D supplement were packaged into 4 identical kits and were launched in 2006 on the space shuttle. After 13, 353, 596, and 880 d of spaceflight aboard the ISS, the kits were returned to Earth. Nine replicates of each food item and vitamin, from the same lots as those sent into space, remained in an environmental chamber on Earth to serve as controls at each time point. Vitamins, hexanal, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, and amino acids were measured in identical-lot food samples at each time point. After 596 d of spaceflight, differences in intact vitamin concentrations due to duration of storage were observed for most foodstuffs, but generally, nutrients from flight samples did not degrade any faster than ground controls. This study provided the 1st set of spaceflight data for investigation of nutrient stability in the food system, and the results will help NASA design food systems for both ISS and space exploration missions.

La alimentación en los viajes espaciales tripulados: desde el Programa Gemini hasta la ISS/Shuttle

“…26 realizaron un estudio con el fin de ver la degradación que sufren los alimentos a lo largo del tiempo en la ISS comparándolos con un control en la Tierra. La elección de alimentos estuvo limitada por el volumen y la masa que pudiera ser lanzada en una nave espacial, y se basó en los alimentos usados por el sistema de suministros de la ISS, teniendo en cuenta que fueran buenas fuentes de alguna vitamina liposoluble durante al menos un año y que representaran los diferentes tipos de comida espacial, rehidratable y forma natural 27 .…”

“…La exposición de estos alimentos a la radiación presente en el espacio puede causar pérdidas de nutrientes y alteraciones de los alimentos, que se sumarían a las causadas por el paso del tiempo, sin embargo la dosis de radiación a la que se ven expuestos los alimentos en la ISS es baja y no se pueden extrapolar los resultados a lo que pasaría en una misión al espacio profundo donde la dosis de radiación que recibirían sería mucho mayor 26 .…”

“…26 sólo abarcó 880 días de duración, el equivalente a aproximadamente 2 años y medio, por lo que es de esperar que en periodos de tiempo más prolongados se produzcan pérdidas mayores de nutrientes, lo que podría poner en peligro la salud de los astronautas. Es necesario, por tanto, mejorar las técnicas de procesado de los alimentos que se suministraran desde la Tierra, así como el material usado para su envasado que permita una mejor conservación.…”

Initial assessment of the nutritional quality of the space food system over three years of ambient storage

“…6 The nutritional adequacy of the 203 current space food items has only been evaluated through database estimates that do not account for spaceflight-specific parameters or extended storage, but the estimates inform the standard spaceflight food menu composition. By analyzing representative examples from the spaceflight food system, this study provides an initial assessment of the nutritional adequacy of the current space food system.…”

Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Changes in Pharmaceuticals Flown on Space Missions

“…The two multiple vitamin preparations were not analyzed since the vitamin content of nutritional supplements before and after stowage in space were reported elsewhere (17). All assay methods were validated using commercial reference standards before analyzing experimental samples.…”