A team of scientists from the Faculty of Pharmacy at Jagiellonian University – Medical College (JU MC), led by Prof. Paweł Paśko from the Department of Bromatology and Prof. Agnieszka Galanty from the Chair of Pharmacognosy, has been conducting pioneering research for several years on the effect of space conditions, particularly altered gravity, on the synthesis of health-promoting compounds in edible plant sprouts.

In recent days, a research cooperation agreement was signed between Jagiellonian University – Medical College and the TORAF Seed Company. The research will be carried out as part of the #TORAFSeedMission project, conducted in cooperation with SpaceForest Ltd., during which seeds of vegetables and other edible plants will be launched into space on four experimental suborbital flights of the Polish PERUN rocket. After the mission, both the seeds and the sprouts grown from them will undergo detailed examination by the team from the JU MC Faculty of Pharmacy.

The analyses will help determine how the conditions during the flight—such as microgravity, high G-forces, pressure, and temperature—affect the plants’ germination capacity, phytochemical composition, and health-promoting properties.

The #TORAFSeedMission project is a unique example of combining food science, bromatology (the study of food), and space technology, opening new perspectives for research on the impact of the extraterrestrial environment on plant organisms.