Promoting Stem Sap Flow of Sweetpotatoes under Low Gravity with Forced Air Movements

抄録

Long-term manned space flights are dependent on bio-regenerative life support systems (BLSS). Plants in BLSS will be important for food production, CO₂/O₂ conversion, and water purification. Stem sap flow is an important indicator of transpiration and growth of plants. In the present study, we created three low gravity levels in parabolic airplane flights and investigated stem sap flow of sweetpotatoes, which are candidate crops in space agriculture. We observed that stem sap flow with forced air movements was promoted at gravity levels lower than 1 g. Air movement around the plants is very important in order to develop BLSS that is able to maintain healthy plant growth with high yields for long-term periods.