KODIAK, Alaska — October 17, 2012 — Astronauts in space may soon enjoy freeze-dried salmon if a Kodiak researcher’s project goes as planned.
Alexandra Oliviera, associate professor of seafood chemistry for University of Alaska Fairbanks at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, is conducting research to see whether freeze-dried salmon makes a tasty space meal.
Oliviera and staff from the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center are in Fairbanks this week conducting taste tests of the product at UAF. She hopes to have at least 150 people sample the salmon.
“A lot of people have been liking the product,” Oliviera said. “It tastes like sockeye salmon with seasoning.”
Oliviera came up with the idea to freeze-dry salmon after noticing that stores sold freeze-dried vegetables for babies. She found there wasn’t much research about freeze-dried salmon, so she worked to obtain an initial research grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
After concluding the initial project, Oliviera wanted to find a way to add flavor to the freeze-dried salmon, so she continued her work and received a grant from the Alaska Space Grant Program to support the research.
Read the full story at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner