A continuous supply of nutritious, safe and appealing food is necessary to sustain life. It becomes particularly essential for people who are living and working under unusual conditions where healthful food is a vital part of maintaining peak physical condition. Food also plays an important role in the psychological welfare of crew members by providing familiarity and variety in the diet. The foods that are being developed are being carefully scrutinized for an optimal balance of nutritional quality and acceptability.
Processing is necessary to convert crops into palatable, safe and satisfying foods.
In addition, processing also preserves food for storage in case of crop failure. To address the issues of food safety and adequate nutritional adequacy of the diet, we must know the composition of the biomass being produced for human consumption. Such data provide feedback to biomass production investigators as they seek to optimize conditions for plant growth and genetically modify the nutrient composition of plants. The plant composition data are also needed for the development and processing of food products, and for the designing of appropriate diets. Materials must be examined from crops grown under a viariety of different conditions for comparison.