Work

Microgreens: nutritional properties, health benefits, production techniques, and food safety risks

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: "Microgreens" is a hypothetical name given to a new class of edible plants that have become popular in recent years. Microgreens are plants that are larger than sprouts and smaller than baby greens, with an average height of 2-8 cm. They have some advantages, such as the microgreens are better than mature greens in terms of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phenolic compounds and the dense and digestible nutrient profile they contain. Microgreens appeal to vegan and vegetarian individuals and simple cultivation in a home environment. Industrial cultivation techniques are being developed under different environmental conditions to ensure that microgreens have a superior nutritional profile. Also, the current health benefits of microgreens are noteworthy. On the other hand, they may pose some food safety risks, especially due to cross-contamination which has created the need to establish suitable decontamination methods for microgreens. Microgreens have become a great topic of interest in the last 10 years, and studies in areas such as nutritional properties and health benefits, production techniques and food safety risks are increasing in the existing literature. This creates the need to bring together existing knowledge about microgreens. Therefore, the aim of this study is to conduct a very detailed literature review about microgreens.

Source: PeerJ

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17938

Authors: Seyda Kaya, Hülya Yardımcı

Institution: Ankara University

Language: English

Topic: Food Science and Nutritional Studies

Subfield: Nutrition and Dietetics

Field: Nursing

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,395