午夜福利1000集合

FOR several years, I have had a collection of greenery growing on my windowsill, a bunch of tiny leaves that provide me with freshly cut salad and a sprinkling of garnish on my meals.

These miniature versions of traditional herbs, vegetables, grains and grasses are known as microgreens. They are easy to grow 鈥� you plant them much like outdoor produce, but cultivate them indoors and harvest them after the first set of true leaves shows. There is a lot of variety, from cauliflower to kohlrabi, and they taste great too.

I am not alone in embracing the microgreen lifestyle. Worldwide, . But they aren鈥檛 just for hobbyists: .

The reason? Microgreens have grown a reputation for being the superheroes of the nutrition world. Tens of thousands of articles have been published about their potential as that offer health benefits over and above that of mature vegetables. 鈥淚f microgreens are included in our meals, it enriches our [health] because of the diversity of species used and the amount of nutrients they contain,鈥� says , assistant professor of vegetable crop science at Pennsylvania State University. But, until recently, research into these plants has been sparse. So before investing further energy and money into developing my crop, I wondered: are they really doing anything for my health, or are they just another food fad?

What are microgreens?

Keen gardeners might mock the rebranding of what have traditionally been called seedlings, and it is unclear exactly who initiated microgreens鈥� leap from pot to plate. According to , owner of MicroGreen Silo, a website providing information to hobbyists, it .

In 1992, Hartman鈥檚 friend, farmer Michael Clark, was struggling with his tomato business, so Hartman asked Clark to grow him some 鈥渂aby greens鈥� for his restaurant. He meant things like baby romaine lettuce, but Clark misunderstood and arrived with a mountain of week-old seedlings. Not wanting them to go to waste, Hartman put them on his menu. That night, food writer ate the greens and, wowed by their flavour, asked what they were. Hartman claims he made up the name microgreens on the spot. Parseghian wrote about them in US magazine Nation鈥檚 Restaurant News and microgreens started appearing on menus over the next few years.

These plants gained popularity because of their colours, textures and taste, says , a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, a London-based charity. Compared with regular vegetables, they are also easier to grow 鈥� which is useful for people like me who aren鈥檛 avid gardeners or don鈥檛 have access to outdoor space. Not being reliant on favourable weather, they also provide a plentiful, year-round supply of varied, edible greens.

I currently have a collection of mixed lettuce leaves growing alongside radish, mustard and rocket. Next to them, a couple of ice cream tubs house parsley, coriander and red basil seeds waiting to germinate, their roots exploring the coconut coir beneath 鈥� a growth medium derived from the husks of coconuts (see 鈥淗ow to grow microgreens鈥�, below). Next on my wish list are peas, kohlrabi, broccoli and sunflowers.

Their taste certainly packs a punch, but they also have a reputation for being more nutritious than their grown-up counterparts. As I struggle to consume the recommended by the World 午夜福利1000集合 Organization, this is what really intrigues me. Could I eat a handful of tiny leaves and get the same health benefits as eating a plate of traditional veg?

The health benefits of microgreens

In 2012, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) commissioned an . Its preliminary work focused on microgreens harvested by a single grower in Los Angeles. Researchers studied the concentration of carotenoids, which help maintain vision and protect against skin damage; vitamin K, which is required for bone and blood vessel maintenance, as well as blood clotting; vitamin E, which is involved in keeping nerves, muscles and the immune system working efficiently; and vitamin C, which plays a vital role in skin, bones, cartilage and the immune system.

鈥淲e were quite surprised [at the results]鈥�, says , national programme leader for the USDA鈥檚 Agricultural Research Service. 鈥淚n the 25 species of microgreens that we were able to analyse, you would have anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent greater nutritional concentration than their mature species counterpart.鈥� The microgreens that packed in the most nutrition included red cabbage, coriander, red garnet amaranth and green daikon radish.

Subsequent studies support this analysis. One, published in 2021, found that , plus minerals and compounds that have been linked with a reduction in oxidative stress in our bodies, a chemical inbalance that is associated with conditions including type 2 diabetes, cancer and neurodegeneration. The researchers concluded that microgreens have potential value in the prevention and treatment of several chronic conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease 鈥� although this has yet to be tested directly.

So microgreens seem to be packed with nutrients, but does this mean I can eat them instead of regular-sized veg? It is a difficult question to answer, but Lester is willing to paint a broad picture. Take a red cabbage microgreen, he says. Studies suggest it contains about .

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Studies have established that red cabbage microgreens have 34.4 milligrams of vitamin E per 100g of fresh produce. Adults tend to , according to the US National Institutes of 午夜福利1000集合. 鈥淚f you consider that one US cup of microgreens weighs about 75g, you would need to eat less than two-thirds of a cup of cabbage microgreens to get your daily requirement of vitamin E,鈥� says Lester. You would need to eat about 26 cups of mature red cabbage to get that same amount, he says.

That is the kind of tasty maths I like, and there are several similar examples. But there is a sticking point. Little research has been done on the fibre content of microgreens, which is an important dietary element packed into regular-sized veg that lowers the risk of heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. One small 鈥� broccoli rabe, broccoli and cauliflower 鈥� found that the cauliflower microgreens provided the most fibre, at around 0.7g per 100g of fresh product compared with around 2g for adult cauliflower. The British Heart Foundation .

Lester points out another caveat. If microgreens are grown properly, they will be as nutritious as the studies claim. However, without sufficient light or with too high a temperature, those nutrient returns will diminish, he says.

How to grow microgreens

A 2019 study that found that a mixture of red and blue LED light was best for healthy, nutritious plants. Red light stimulates the growth of anthocyanins 鈥� the pigment that you find in red., purple or blue fruit and veg, which has been linked with benefits to our brain, vision and immunity 鈥� whereas blue light helps boost plant growth.

While I have been known to occasionally blast a pair of LED lights onto my plants, the reality for most home growers is that their crop may not be quite as nutritious as that provided by professionals, which can be expensive: a 110g pack of microgreens at my local supermarket costs 拢2.95.

And not everyone is convinced that you can eat enough microgreens to benefit your health. 鈥淲hile including microgreens in the diet could add more variety,鈥� says Coe, 鈥渋t is likely that microgreens would only make a small contribution to nutrient intakes and total amount of vegetables consumed, as they are typically eaten in small quantities.鈥�

There is also the risk that you could do more harm than good if you aren鈥檛 careful. Di Gioia is keen to encourage home growers, but a lack of post-harvest processing, such as washing or cooking, can mean there are food safety risks. Worldwide, there have been multiple recalls of microgreens in recent years for issues like salmonella, including in the seeds themselves.

Microgreens with pharmaceutical properties

Microgreen researchers do have one more trick up their sleeves, however. Di Gioia鈥檚 team is among several that are using to make them even more nutritious. Like all plants, they absorb nutrients from the soil or water in which they are grown. But because they are harvested when small, the nutrients they absorb are concentrated in higher levels within their mass. Di Gioia鈥檚 team is first focusing on , such as iron and zinc. By altering their growing and environmental conditions, such as using different light or putting the plants under small amounts of stress, it is possible to boost the capacity of microgreens to take up those nutrients, so they are absorbed in higher doses.

Early results seem promising. 鈥淲e can literally control the level of minerals that are going to be in the microgreens,鈥� says Di Gioia. His aim is to produce some with pharmaceutical properties. 鈥淲e could design produce for specific dietary needs,鈥� he says.

Aside from their potential health benefits, it may be worth making space for microgreens for environmental reasons too. The average professional grower yields about 57 kilograms of crop per square metre of space compared with 3.8 kilograms per square metre for outdoor veg. As such, microgreens have become part of the global movement towards controlled-environment agriculture, which includes what is known as vertical farming. This technology-centric revolution aims to make what has previously been a haphazard, nature-reliant food production industry more efficient.

Lester says microgreens could also be a key contributor to urban agriculture, enabling growers to produce nutritional crops that are readily available. 鈥淭hat would eliminate transportation across country, or even importing from another country.鈥�

I am convinced that there are good reasons to keep on tending to my crops 鈥� at the very least, I am more likely to eat my microgreens than a plate of larger veg. I am not alone there either: there is evidence that people are keen to eat up their microgreens, even if they would ordinarily shun vegetables. Lester鈥檚 team conducted a study in 2015 looking at . 鈥淸Broadly], we found women enjoyed eating microgreens because they understood and appreciated them, and wanted to have the associated benefits, whereas men and children ate microgreens because they didn鈥檛 see it as a vegetable,鈥� he says.

It seems my microgreens are, for now, a good way of creating a little more diversity in my diet, probably contributing vital nutrients lost to my poor consumption of regular veg. Give them another decade and they might even replace a few things in my medicine cabinet too. So if you鈥檒l excuse me, I think it鈥檚 time for a quick harvest.

Chris Stokel-Walker is a journalist based in Newcastle, UK