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In this article they mention only the production of some vitamins, presumably because they degrade faster during storage. These could be used only together with
by adrian_b 3y ago
In this article they mention only the production of some vitamins, presumably because they degrade faster during storage. These could be used only together with proteins and fats stored since the departure from Earth.
Now there already exist genetically-engineered strains of the fungus Trichoderma, which can produce either whey protein (beta-lactoglobulin) or egg-white protein (ovalbumin), from low-grade sources of nitrogen and organic carbon. There have been recently news about a startup which attempts to mass-produce substitute proteins for the food industry by this method.
I expect that for longer missions such fungal cultures for protein production will also become necessary (possibly recycling the nitrogen from urine, which will reduce the amount of stored food).
Also the highly unsaturated fatty acids degrade faster during storage, so a culture of the fungus-like organism Schizochytrium, which is already widely used for the industrial production of DHA and EPA for nutritional supplements, might also become necessary for longer missions.