Vegetables grown on Martian soil safe for human consumption
Q. Mars soil is perfect for growing _________, according to scientists.- Published on 27 Jun 16a. Fruits
b. Vegetables
c. Crops
d. Both b and c
e. All the above
ANSWER: Both b and c
Vegetables grown on soil in Mars have been found safe for human consumption according to Dutch scientists.
- In the greenhouses at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, scientists have worked on growing crops in Mars and Moon soil simultants since 2013
- The first experiment demonstrated that crops could grow on soil simulants with researchers mixing indelible parts of the 2013 plants into the simulant and succeeded to grow 10 different crops
- Heavy metals such as copper, lead and cadmium present in soils could contaminate the crops
- In case there are too high levels of heavy metals from the soil absorbed in edible plant parts, crops can become poisonous
- Wamelink indicated that radishes, peas, rye and tomatoes grown here can be eaten as no dangerous level of Copper, Zn, Fe or lead were found indicating the crops were safe to eat
