Soilless cultivation of saffron (Crocus sativus) in a controlled environment represents an intere... more Soilless cultivation of saffron (Crocus sativus) in a controlled environment represents an interesting alternative to field cultivation, in order to obtain a standardized high-quality product and to optimize yields. In particular, pharma-grade saffron is fundamental for therapeutic applications of this spice, whose efficacy has been demonstrated in the treatment of macular diseases, such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). In this work, a hydroponic cultivation system was developed, specifically designed to meet the needs of C. sativus plant. Various cultivation recipes, different in spectrum and intensity of lighting, temperature, photoperiod and irrigation, have been adopted to study their effect on saffron production. The experimentation involved the cultivation of corms from two subsequent farm years, to identify and validate the optimal conditions, both in terms of quantitative yield and as accumulation of bioactive metabolites, with particular reference to crocins and p...
The 2020s is a very important decade in the space sector, where international cooperation is movi... more The 2020s is a very important decade in the space sector, where international cooperation is moving towards the exploration of the Moon and will lead to stable lunar settlements, which will require new, innovative, and efficient technologies. In this context, the project LOOPS–M (Lunar Operative Outpost for the Production and Storage of Microgreens) was created by students from Sapienza University of Rome with the objective of designing some of the main features of a lunar greenhouse. The project was developed for the IGLUNA 2021 campaign, an interdisciplinary platform coordinated by Space Innovation as part of the ESA Lab@ initiative. The LOOPS-M mission was successfully concluded during the Virtual Field Campaign that took place in July 2021. This project is a follow-up of the V-GELM Project, which took part in IGLUNA 2020 with the realization in Virtual Reality of a Lunar Greenhouse: a simulation of the main operations connected to the cultivation module, the HORT3 , which was al...
2020 IEEE 7th International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace (MetroAeroSpace)
The in-orbit cultivation of vegetables, fruits, and edible plants is of paramount importance for ... more The in-orbit cultivation of vegetables, fruits, and edible plants is of paramount importance for the development of long-term manned space mission Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) and for the improvement of bio-regenerative systems. GreenCube is a 3U CubeSat mission aimed at demonstrating the functionalities of an autonomous cultivation laboratory that stems from a collaboration between the Sapienza University of Rome, the Italian Space Agency, University of Naples "Federico II", and ENEA. The satellite will cultivate microgreens in a pressurized vessel containing support systems and monitoring instrumentation for the plant growth. This paper describes the GreenCube mission and the instrumentation used for the growth support and monitoring.
2018 5th IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace (MetroAeroSpace), 2018
This paper is aimed at demonstrating the possibility of growing a tomato ideotype, fortified in a... more This paper is aimed at demonstrating the possibility of growing a tomato ideotype, fortified in anti-oxidant content (derived from Micro-Tom, a model cultivar for tomato research overexpressing anthocyanins) and specifically developed for spatial environment, in a seed-to-seed cycle (70–90 days) on a CubeSat. To reach this goal, a dedicated micro satellite equivalent to 12 U will be developed to be sent into low-orbit. Growing plants in space is a prerequisite to sustain long-term human exploration of the solar system. Plants can increase the independence of a space mission providing astronauts with food, oxygen, waste recycling, water purification increasing quality of life. Preliminary experimental results to simulate the low orbit conditions are here described, together with all the devices used during the test activities.
Dasypyrum villosum (Dv) is a typical wild species in the central-southern Italian peninsular and ... more Dasypyrum villosum (Dv) is a typical wild species in the central-southern Italian peninsular and insular areas, where it grows in diversified environments (sublitoraneous calcareous sands, non-litoraneous sands or tuffs, scarce soil interspersed to calcareous rocks in semi-arid environments, cold mountainous terrain, disturbed road-sides) showing a polymorphic genome and an interesting ecological adaptations. Dv can be crossed with wheat and the introgression of its genes may contribute significantly to wheat improvement (i. e. genes for grain storage proteins and resistance to biotic and drought stresses). In situ hybridization and molecular markers are useful methods to assess the introgression of Dv genes into wheat but crossing brings ‘‘good and bad’’ genes all together into the wheat genome, making a difficult task to obtain useful new varieties. Gene isolation and cloning for direct specific cisgenesis could be of most use to foster wheat improvement using specific genes from ...
Soilless cultivation of saffron (Crocus sativus) in a controlled environment represents an intere... more Soilless cultivation of saffron (Crocus sativus) in a controlled environment represents an interesting alternative to field cultivation, in order to obtain a standardized high-quality product and to optimize yields. In particular, pharma-grade saffron is fundamental for therapeutic applications of this spice, whose efficacy has been demonstrated in the treatment of macular diseases, such as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). In this work, a hydroponic cultivation system was developed, specifically designed to meet the needs of C. sativus plant. Various cultivation recipes, different in spectrum and intensity of lighting, temperature, photoperiod and irrigation, have been adopted to study their effect on saffron production. The experimentation involved the cultivation of corms from two subsequent farm years, to identify and validate the optimal conditions, both in terms of quantitative yield and as accumulation of bioactive metabolites, with particular reference to crocins and p...
The 2020s is a very important decade in the space sector, where international cooperation is movi... more The 2020s is a very important decade in the space sector, where international cooperation is moving towards the exploration of the Moon and will lead to stable lunar settlements, which will require new, innovative, and efficient technologies. In this context, the project LOOPS–M (Lunar Operative Outpost for the Production and Storage of Microgreens) was created by students from Sapienza University of Rome with the objective of designing some of the main features of a lunar greenhouse. The project was developed for the IGLUNA 2021 campaign, an interdisciplinary platform coordinated by Space Innovation as part of the ESA Lab@ initiative. The LOOPS-M mission was successfully concluded during the Virtual Field Campaign that took place in July 2021. This project is a follow-up of the V-GELM Project, which took part in IGLUNA 2020 with the realization in Virtual Reality of a Lunar Greenhouse: a simulation of the main operations connected to the cultivation module, the HORT3 , which was al...
2020 IEEE 7th International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace (MetroAeroSpace)
The in-orbit cultivation of vegetables, fruits, and edible plants is of paramount importance for ... more The in-orbit cultivation of vegetables, fruits, and edible plants is of paramount importance for the development of long-term manned space mission Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) and for the improvement of bio-regenerative systems. GreenCube is a 3U CubeSat mission aimed at demonstrating the functionalities of an autonomous cultivation laboratory that stems from a collaboration between the Sapienza University of Rome, the Italian Space Agency, University of Naples "Federico II", and ENEA. The satellite will cultivate microgreens in a pressurized vessel containing support systems and monitoring instrumentation for the plant growth. This paper describes the GreenCube mission and the instrumentation used for the growth support and monitoring.
2018 5th IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace (MetroAeroSpace), 2018
This paper is aimed at demonstrating the possibility of growing a tomato ideotype, fortified in a... more This paper is aimed at demonstrating the possibility of growing a tomato ideotype, fortified in anti-oxidant content (derived from Micro-Tom, a model cultivar for tomato research overexpressing anthocyanins) and specifically developed for spatial environment, in a seed-to-seed cycle (70–90 days) on a CubeSat. To reach this goal, a dedicated micro satellite equivalent to 12 U will be developed to be sent into low-orbit. Growing plants in space is a prerequisite to sustain long-term human exploration of the solar system. Plants can increase the independence of a space mission providing astronauts with food, oxygen, waste recycling, water purification increasing quality of life. Preliminary experimental results to simulate the low orbit conditions are here described, together with all the devices used during the test activities.
Dasypyrum villosum (Dv) is a typical wild species in the central-southern Italian peninsular and ... more Dasypyrum villosum (Dv) is a typical wild species in the central-southern Italian peninsular and insular areas, where it grows in diversified environments (sublitoraneous calcareous sands, non-litoraneous sands or tuffs, scarce soil interspersed to calcareous rocks in semi-arid environments, cold mountainous terrain, disturbed road-sides) showing a polymorphic genome and an interesting ecological adaptations. Dv can be crossed with wheat and the introgression of its genes may contribute significantly to wheat improvement (i. e. genes for grain storage proteins and resistance to biotic and drought stresses). In situ hybridization and molecular markers are useful methods to assess the introgression of Dv genes into wheat but crossing brings ‘‘good and bad’’ genes all together into the wheat genome, making a difficult task to obtain useful new varieties. Gene isolation and cloning for direct specific cisgenesis could be of most use to foster wheat improvement using specific genes from ...
Uploads