Turkish scientists have successfully grown tomatoes in soil stimulants replicating lunar and Martian regolith, marking a significant step toward sustainable agriculture beyond Earth.
The TÜBİTAK-funded project, led by Regin Özgür Uzilday of the Biology Department at Ege University, explores how extraterrestrial surface materials can be rendered suitable for cultivation.
Conducted in collaboration with Barış Uzilday and Tansel Kaygısız of the university’s agriculture faculty, the 15-month study uses regolith stimulants imported from the United States that structurally resemble the mineral composition of the Moon and Mars.
Regolith — a dust- and rock-based surface material devoid of organic matter and microbial life — poses severe challenges for plant growth. Unlike terrestrial soil, it contains high levels of metals and salts and lacks biological activity.
Transporting soil from Earth to space colonies is considered impractical, prompting researchers to investigate in situ biological remediation.
In the project’s first phase, scientists cultivated extremophyte pioneer species capable of surviving high temperatures, heavy metal toxicity, drought and salinity. Species such as Schrenkiella parvula, Arabis alpina and Noccaea caerulescens were used to biologically reduce excess metal and salt concentrations in the stimulants.
Following this remediation process, researchers proceeded to grow tomatoes in the treated regolith analogues. Uzilday reported that several plants produced substantial fruit yields. The next stage will focus on assessing fruit quality and examining molecular stress-response pathways.
Kaygısız noted that detailed quality analyses will be conducted on tomatoes reaching harvest maturity and compared with those grown in conventional soil.
The findings are expected to clarify whether crops cultivated in regolith-like substrates could be safe and viable for future lunar or Martian settlements.
