This slightly spiced blend of mildly flavored brassicas contains mizuna, red cabbage, Japanese cabbage and a colorful mix of radishes. Mostly green with a touch of purple.
They may be tiny, but a new study shows trendy microgreens punch well above their weight when it comes to nutrition.
Researchers found microgreens like red cabbage, cilantro, and radish contain up to 40 times higher levels of vital nutrients than their mature counterparts.
Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs harvested less than 14 days after germination. They are usually about 1-3 inches long and come in a rainbow of colors, which has made them popular in recent years as garnishes with chefs.
In a study that was the first scientific evaluation of their nutritional content, researchers say they were astonished by the results.
“The microgreens were four- to 40-fold more concentrated with nutrients than their mature counterparts,” says researcher Qin Wang, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Maryland in College Park. “When we first got the results we had to rush to double and triple check them.”
For example, red cabbage microgreens had 40 times more vitamin E and six times more vitamin C than mature red cabbage.