Food Grown In Simulated Martian Soil Is Safe, Promising Result For Mars Mission?

Three months ago researchers from Netherland's Wageningen University and Research Center declared that they had managed to grow real live crops out of simulated Martian soil. The feat was a breakthrough especially because such an attempt had been a struggle for many years. However, at that moment, the scientists did not know whether the plant produce was safe for consumption. The soil on the red planet is high in toxic heavy metals as compared to that of the Earth; therefore experts were skeptical about toxins ending up in the crops, and subsequently making them dangerous for human intake.

However, after testing four of the 10 harvested crops, namely tomato, rye, pea and radish, the scientists found that the produce did not contain dangerous concentrations of heavy metals that would jeopardize human health. "The four crops are therefore safe to eat and for some heavy metals, the concentrations were even lower than in the crops grown in potting soil," a press release stated. Incidentally, out of the four tested crops, radishes contained the most heavy metals, including cadmium, lead and copper. The remaining six crops still need to be tested and Wageningen has a crowd funding campaign to raise money for the same.  Once it has been established whether all 10 crops are safe and edible, the researchers want to organize a meal prepared with the 'false' Martian crops for the funders.

According to a report in the Washington Post, finding that Martian soil can be used to grow safe crops does not however mean that we are ready to grow crops on the real soil of Mars. For one thing, the findings have not been peer reviewed or featured in a scientific journal, and secondly there is a difference in growing crops in simulated Martian soil and the actual deal. The researchers carried out crop production on the basis of rough approximations supplied by the chemical tests conducted by Mars orbiters and landers; therefore there is no actual surety about the outcome, or whether agriculture will actually work on the Martian surface.

However, the study is being backed by MarsOne, a privately funded initiative that wants to send humans on a one way trip to the red planet in 2020. The researchers of the crop project feel that its results will play a crucial role in helping people survive on Mars.