Microgreen

Microgreens are a vegetable green, harvested after the cotyledon leaves have developed, not to be confused with sprouts or shoots, that are used both as a visual and flavor component or ingredient primarily in fine dining restaurants. Fine dining chefs use microgreens to enhance the attractiveness and taste of their dishes with their delicate textures and distinctive flavors. Smaller than “baby greens,” and harvested later than sprouts, microgreens can provide a variety of leaf flavors, such as sweet and spicy. They are also known for their various colors and textures. Among upscale markets, they are now considered a specialty genre of greens that are good for garnishing salads, soups, plates, and sandwiches.Among the 25 microgreens tested, red cabbage, cilantro, garnet amaranth, and green daikon radish had the highest concentrations of vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin K, and vitamin E, respectively. In general, microgreens contained considerably higher levels of vitamins and carotenoids—about five times greater—than their mature plant counterparts, an indication that microgreens may be worth the trouble of delivering them fresh during their short lives. Microgreens are a vegetable green, harvested after the cotyledon leaves have developed, not to be confused with sprouts or shoots, that are used both as a visual and flavor component or ingredient primarily in fine dining restaurants. Fine dining chefs use microgreens to enhance the attractiveness and taste of their dishes with their delicate textures and distinctive flavors. Smaller than “baby greens,” and harvested later than sprouts, microgreens can provide a variety of leaf flavors, such as sweet and spicy. They are also known for their various colors and textures. Among upscale markets, they are now considered a specialty genre of greens that are good for garnishing salads, soups, plates, and sandwiches. Edible young greens and grains are produced from various kinds of vegetables, herbs or other plants. They range in size from 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm), including the stem and leaves. A microgreen has a single central stem which has been cut just above the soil line during harvesting. It has fully developed cotyledon leaves and usually has one pair of very small, partially developed true leaves. The average crop-time for most microgreens is 10–14 days from seeding to harvest. Microgreens began showing up on chefs' menus as early as the 1980s, in San Francisco, California.In Southern California, microgreens have been grown since about the mid‑1990s. There were initially very few varieties offered. Those available were such as arugula, basil, beets, kale, cilantro and a mixture called Rainbow Mix. Having spread eastward from California, they are now being grown in most areas of the United States with an increasing number of varieties being produced. Today, the U.S. microgreens industry consists of a variety of seed companies and growers. Microgreens have three basic parts: a central stem, cotyledon leaf or leaves, and typically the first pair of very young true leaves. They vary in size depending upon the specific variety grown, with the typical size being 1 to 1.5 in (25 to 38 mm) in total length. When the green grows beyond this size, it should no longer be considered a microgreen. Larger sizes have been called petite greens. Microgreens are typically 2–4 weeks old from germination to harvest. Both baby greens and microgreens lack any legal definition. The terms 'baby greens' and 'microgreens' are marketing terms used to describe their respective categories. Sprouts are germinated seeds and are typically consumed as an entire plant (root, seed, and shoot), depending on the species. For example, sprouts from almond, pumpkin, and peanut reportedly have a preferred flavor when harvested prior to root development. Sprouts are legally defined, and have additional regulations concerning their production and marketing due to their relatively high risk of microbial contamination compared to other greens. Growers interested in producing sprouts for sale need to be aware of the risks and precautions summarized in the FDA publication Guidance for Industry: Reducing Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Sprouted Seeds (FDA 1999). Growing microgreens is relatively easy. Many small 'backyard' growers have sprung up selling their greens at farmers markets or to restaurants. A shallow plastic container with drainage holes, such as a nursery flat or prepackaged-salad box, will facilitate sprouting and grow out on a small scale. Growing and marketing high-quality microgreens commercially is much more difficult. Artificial lighting is not necessarily needed for growing microgreens. This is because microgreens can grow under various lighting conditions, including under indirect natural light and grow lights, or even in complete darkness. Different lighting conditions can change the flavors of the microgreens being grown. For instance, corn microgreens are sweet when grown in the dark, but become bitter when exposed to light due to photosynthesis processes taking place in the sprouting plants. Nightshade family plants such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers should not be grown and consumed as microgreens, since nightshade plant sprouts are poisonous. Nightshade plant sprouts contain toxic alkaloids such as solanine and tropanes, which can cause adverse symptoms in the digestive and nervous systems. Researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service have published, as of early 2014, several studies that identify the nutritional make-up and the shelf life of microgreens. Twenty-five varieties were tested, key nutrients measured were ascorbic acid (vitamin C), tocopherols (vitamin E), phylloquinone (vitamin K), and beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor), plus other related carotenoids in the cotyledons. A nutritional study of microgreens was done in the summer of 2012 by the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, indicating promising potential that microgreens may indeed have particularly high nutritional value compared to mature vegetables. Bhimu Patil, a professor of horticulture and director of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University, agrees that microgreens may potentially have higher levels of nutrients than mature vegetables. But he says more studies are needed to compare the two side by side. 'This is a very good start, but there can be a lot of variation in nutrients depending on where you grow it, when you harvest, and the soil medium,' Patil says. When choosing a microgreen, researchers say to look for the most intensely colored ones, which will be the most nutritious. Results of the microgreens research project conducted by the University of Maryland and the USDA has garnered attention from several national media outlets including National Public Radio (NPR) and The Huffington Post.