Determining the nutrients in Brassica microgreens
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have conducted mineral analyses of Brassica microgreen varieties and have identified phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals that are important to human health.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have conducted mineral analyses of Brassica microgreen varieties and have identified phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals that are important to human health. Microgreens are the young seedlings of vegetables and herbs, which are harvested with the seed’s original leaves intact, very soon after these first true leaves emerge. The Brassica microgreens analyzed in this study included arugula, broccoli, kale, radish, red cabbage, and wasabi.
Published in AgResearch magazine, the scientists analyzed the mineral content of 30 different microgreen varieties for levels of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc. These minerals play crucial roles in various biological processes in both plants and animals.
The researchers found that mineral concentrations varied among the different microgreen types. The most abundant element found in all the microgreen samples was potassium, followed by phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and sodium. Potassium values were highest in wasabi microgreens and lowest in daikon radish microgreens.
“Savoy cabbage microgreens have the most calcium—98 mg per 100 g fresh weight—of any of the 30 Brassica microgreens studied,” said Yaguang (Sunny) Luo, food technologist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). “On the other end of the spectrum, peppercress has the least, with 39 mg per 100 g. If getting enough iron is important for a particular person, then purple kohlrabi microgreens may be a good addition to the diet, with 0.75 mg per 100 g fresh weight.”