A newly-developed space cookie made of silkworm pupa powder is set to add more taste to astronauts' diet.

Masamichi Yamashita, a researcher with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), released a recipe for the pupa cookies during the 36th scientific assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

The recipe comprises three to six grams of silkworm pupa powder, 200 grams of rice powder, 50 grams of soy powder and 300 cubic centimeters of soymilk, with soy sauce and salt.

All these ingredients will be available in space as soybeans and wheat have been grown successfully in simulated space chambers and methods of raising silkworms in space are under development, said Yamashita.

Astronauts may blend these materials with water and divide the mixture into small pieces. "They will be flavorsome cookies after being fried for 15 minutes in a 600-watt inductive heating machine," Naomi Katayama, a renowned Japanese nutritionist and member of Yamashita's group, told Xinhua.

Pupas are first pan fried, seasoned with soy sauce to mask its fishy smell and then ground to powder, Katayama said, adding that cooked pupa will taste almost the same as shrimp or crab.

Yamashita has suggested a transparent greenhouse be built on Mars to grow mulberry for silkworms, as well as other plants like wheat, soybeans and potatoes.

Yang Yunan, a researcher with the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said that the silkworm might become a regular dish of Chinese astronauts because it is rich in protein, easy to raise, and produces little waste water.

Source: Xinhua