Why You Can Trust CNET Cryopreserved avocado shoots could mean guacamole on Mars
Researchers are working to head off any chance of an "avocado apocalypse" on Earth.
Humans are intent on going to Mars, but what will martian cuisine be like? Thanks to the work of researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, there could be a side of guacamole to go with all the Mars potatoes.
Ph.D. student Chris O'Brien successfully developed a liquid nitrogen cryopreservation technique for avocado shoot tips. It's the same kind of method used to deep-freeze human sperm and eggs.
"The aim is to preserve important avocado cultivars and key genetic traits from possible destruction by threats like bushfires, pests and disease such as laurel wilt -- a fungus which has the capacity to wipe out all the avocado germplasm in Florida," O'Brien said in a UQ release on Thursday. Germplasm is living tissue, like avocado shoots, that can create new plants.
University of Queensland's Chris O'Brien developed a cryopreservation technique for avocado shoot tips.
The process took a lot of trial and error. "At first I was just recovering brown mush after freezing the avocado tips," O'Brien said. He tried various preparations involving vitamin C, sucrose and cold temperatures before hitting on a method that allowed the tips to survive the cryopreservation process.
It takes about 20 minutes for the shoot tips to revive after freezing and about two months to grow new leaves and be ready for rooting. The researchers published a study on the process in the journal Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture.
The next stage in the research involves field trials with the trees to see if the fruit holds up to scrutiny.
"I suppose you could say they are space-age avocados – ready to be cryo-frozen and shipped to Mars when human flight becomes possible," said UQ professor Neena Mitter, who worked with O'Brien on refining the preservation technique.
So far, this is good news for lovers of avocado toast here on Earth, but future Mars colonists may be even more grateful when they one day break out the chips and dip on another planet.
