Vitamin protection

The next goal in manned spaceflight of bringing humans to Mars will add a new and exciting step to the history of human spaceflight with regard to the travel distance and duration. This interplanetary mission presents many unique challenges from the technical, psychological and physiological point of view that need to be addressed prior to the launch of the first space vessel. One of the problems inadequately solved is the storage of food for the astronauts and maintaining an intact nutrient supply on this long mission [1]. After certain amounts of time, food can go stale or develop a strange taste. On a molecular level this means that nutrients such as vitamins, amino acids or fatty acids are isomerised or oxidised resulting in useless or possibly dangerous compounds. This is problematic for astronauts on long-term missions since the food they consume is no longer providing the nutrients they need to ensure their health and performance. Considering the time that is needed to manufacture, pack and store the food on ground, in addition to the time it needs to travel to Mars and be stored there until the arrival of the astronauts, the shelf life time of food might easily add up to 3 – 5 years [2]. NASA assigns an 18 to 24 months shelf-life to most astronaut’s food items, but even this time is not sufficient for future interplanetary missions [3].

Project

In this project, the aim is to encapsulate retinol (vitamin A1) as a model vitamin in microgels to slow down its degradation. Retinol belongs to the group of retinoids that play an important role in skin health, blood cells, metabolisms and good vision. Vitamin A1 has limited chemical and photochemical stability. Degradation is facilitated by oxygen, heat, UV-light at wavelengths below 415 nm, and radicals. This study examines whether highly crosslinked microgels are able to hinder the transformation of the double bonds of retinol from all-trans to a trans-cis mixture.

References

1. Zwart, S. R., Kloeris, V. L., Perchonok, M. H., Braby, L., Smith, S. M., Assessment of Nutrient Stability in Foods from the Space Food System After Long-Duration Spaceflight on the ISS J. Food Sci., 2009, 74(7), H209-H217. [link]
2. Perchonok, M. H., Douglas, G, Cooper, M. R., Risk of Performance Decrement and Crew Illness Due to an Inadequate Food System. NASA, Evidence Report, 2012. [link]
3. Cooper, M., Douglas, G., Perchonok, M., Developing the NASA Food System for Long-Duration Missions. Journal of Food Science, 2011, 76(2), R40-R48. [link]