Hummus Prepared with Chickpeas Cultivated on the Moon Could Be Available for Upcoming Lunar Inhabitants
Scientists successfully cultivated and gathered chickpeas in simulated lunar soil—with some assistance from worm excrement and a helpful fungus. However, they are still evaluating whether the legumes are safe for consumption.
Left: Experimental setup of some chickpeas growing in artificial lunar dirt. Right: A chickpea root covered in the simulated moon soil, which is sharp and glass-like.
Jessica Atkin
NASA aims to return to the moon, planning to land humans on its surface in 2028 following a break of over 50 years. This time, the agency is focused on establishing a permanent presence on our lunar neighbor.
“We must learn how to cultivate food on the moon, as transporting food via spacecraft will not be feasible,” Sara Oliveira Santos, a fluid dynamicist at the University of Texas at Austin, tells Reuters’ Will Dunham. “Shipping items to space remains costly, making weight a limiting factor, and the survival of astronauts on the moon cannot rely on timely resupply missions.”
Thus, Santos and her team endeavored—and succeeded—in growing and gathering chickpeas in a nutrient-enhanced lunar soil analogue, detailed in a study published in March in the journal Scientific Reports.
Not all soil is created the same, and moon soil, known as regolith, isn’t optimal for plant life. It lacks the necessary microbes and organic matter required for their sustenance and contains potentially harmful heavy metals.
“It poses a risk unamended,” study co-author Jessica Atkin, a space biologist at Texas A&M University, tells Science News’ Lisa Grossman. “It’s the worst. It’s terrible.”
Nonetheless, the material has nutrients and minerals essential for plant growth, leading the researchers to speculate that it might just require an addition of a special component: worm excrement.
Initially, the team sourced artificial lunar soil mimicking the composition of Apollo lunar samples from a laboratory in Florida. “It is 99 percent compositionally accurate,” Atkin tells ABC News’ Julia Jacobo.
Fun fact: What about plants in genuine moon soil?
Researchers have recently cultivated thale cress—a mustard relative—in lunar regolith collected during the Apollo missions. The studies, conducted in 2022, resulted in the first plants grown in lunar dirt.
Subsequently, they combined varying proportions of the simulated regolith with vermicompost, a diverse microbial substance produced by red wiggler earthworms after consuming organic waste. This can include mission refuse, such as food residues, cotton-based apparel, and hygiene supplies.
Prior to planting, some of the chickpeas were treated with arbuscular mycorrhizae, microscopic fungi that aid many plants’ survival—and benefit reciprocally. The fungi absorb certain nutrients from the plants while reducing the chickpeas’ uptake of heavy metals.
These fungi “enabled plants to effectively colonize terrestrial environments,” Atkin tells the Houston Chronicle’s Andrea Leinfelder. “I wondered, ‘Could the same mechanisms aiding these plants in transitioning from ocean to land on Earth assist us on the moon?’”
The response appears to be affirmative. Soil mixtures containing up to 75 percent simulated lunar regolith produced harvestable chickpeas, the researchers discovered. Higher amounts of lunar soil resulted in plant stress and premature demise.
Interestingly, the stressed plants persisted longer than chickpeas without fungi, suggesting that these small partners are vital for plant wellbeing. The researchers also found that the fungi effectively colonized and thrived in the soil mixture, indicating that in an actual growing scenario, they would only need to be introduced once.
Still, no one has yet tasted the lunar chickpeas. The team is currently assessing whether the legumes contain unsafe metal concentrations for consumption.
“We aim to understand their viability as a food source,” Atkin states in a statement. “How nutritious are they? Do they provide the essential nutrients for astronauts? If they are not safe for consumption, how many generations must pass before they are?”
If they prove to be edible, she tells Science News, “I’ll be the first to prepare some moon hummus.”