Alaska salmon in space?
By SeafoodSource staff
22 October, 2012
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Astronauts in space may soon enjoy freeze-dried salmon if a Kodiak researcher's project goes as planned.
Alexandra Oliviera, associate professor of seafood chemistry for University of Alaska Fairbanks at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, is conducting research to see whether freeze-dried salmon makes a tasty space meal.
Oliviera came up with the idea to freeze-dry salmon after noticing that stores sold freeze-dried vegetables for babies. She found there wasn't much research about freeze-dried salmon, so she worked to obtain an initial research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
After concluding the initial project, Oliviera wanted to find a way to add flavor to the freeze-dried salmon, so she continued her work and received a grant from the Alaska Space Grant Program to support the research.
“The idea was that it would be an interesting application for an astronaut because it is highly nutritious,” she said.
In order for a food to be considered for NASA, the product has to undergo a lengthy testing process. The product has to be stored for a year, then undergo microbial and chemical analysis. Another study must determine how the meal behaves when stored in different conditions, Oliviera said. She started storing the salmon test samples eight months ago and will soon be able to conduct the final tests.
“Every month we’ve been making observations,” she said. “I’m looking at if the product is changing.”
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22 October, 2012