Presentation: 2025 ND EPSCoR Annual conference 

October 21, 2025, NDSU Memorial Union, Fargo, North Dakota

Aspirin Synthesis from Wintergreen Plants Grown in Simulated Regolith

Long-term space occupation will require growing plants in space, using regolith for substrate. Useful plant products include crops, but also botanical extracts for applications such as medicine. Aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, can be synthesized from wintergreen oil using a few basic chemical reactions. My project aimed to synthesize aspirin from the leaves of wintergreen plants grown in varying compositions of simulated lunar regolith. Wintergreeen plants (Gaultheria procumbens) were separated into 6 substrate treatment groups of 3 plants each: A) 100% potting soil; B) 25% regolith + 75% peat moss; C) 25% regolith + 75% biochar; D) 25% regolith + 75% potting soil; E) 25% regolith + 37.5% peat moss + 37.5% biochar; and F) 50% peat moss + 50% biochar. Plants were placed in a greenhouse and grown for 2 months. Wintergreen oil (methyl salicylate) was extracted from leaves using steam distillation. From there, methyl salicylate was converted to salicylic acid, which was in turn converted to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). Treatment A had the lowest yield of wintergreen leaves, averaging 19g. Treatment D had the highest yield, averaging 54g of leaves. Treatment F, E, C, and B had intermediate averages. All treatments had successful extraction of wintergreen oil and synthesis of salicylic acid. All treatments also had successful aspirin synthesis, except for Treatment A. This proof-of-concept project shows that growing wintergreen plants in substrates with simulated regolith is possible, and that medically valuable botanicals can be extracted. In summary, this project connects space agriculture to space medicine.