Microgreens and Health

[sky]

Does anyone have any expertise in the health benefits of microgreens? I have started a microgreen nursery in my basement and want to optimize production for maximum health benefit. I set up my grow system based on positive things said by Dr. Greger. There is a study done by a USDA group in Maryland that is referred to again and again in websites I come across in internet searches.

My current strategy is to grow sunflower seeds, red cabbage and radish. When mixed together in a serving of about 50g, 10g and 10g respectively, the flavor is excellent eaten raw and requires no salad dressing or any other flavoring. The serving size is a small salad bowl.

I am thinking about designing my system to provide three of these servings per day. I calculated the cost, including seed, potting soil and electricity for my 60W led system at about 60 cents per serving.

I am wondering if anyone has knowledge on how to maximize health benefits by selecting the right microgreens.

[jennypenny]

I don't know the specifics of the individual types of microgreens. I have read that if you eat the greens by the 14-day mark (when they should have only 2 leaves), they have 5 times the nutritional density of a mature plant. Given that, you could figure out what you need by looking up the nutritional information of any variety and doing the math.

[sky]

This group seems to be the source of the few available research studies on microgreens: https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/2014/jan/greens

You can see my work by searching youtube for the channel Continuous Harvest. I am still in the trial and error phase but learning fast. I think that a mix of 50g sunflower microgreens, 10g brassica microgreens and 10g radish microgreens works from a flavor and texture perspective, and I suspect that several servings a day will provide more than enough vitamins.

I would like to know how much protein sunflower microgreens have. I am wondering how much of one's diet could come entirely from microgreens.

[jennypenny]

Subscribed! I really liked the cost breakdown video.

I couldn't find any studies on the nutrient content except for that one from UMd that everyone references.

How do you eat them?

[sky]

Raw, they taste very good without any salad dressing. I just use my fingers.

[Kriegsspiel]

Sunflower sprouts look like peanut butter, macronutrient-wise.

1/4 cup
190 cal
16g fat
6g cho (2g fiber)
6g pro


https://www.livestrong.com/article/5249 ... r-sprouts/

[sky]

That is a lot of protein for a salad green.

I plan to eat about 200 grams per day. It is not hard, the sunflower green are very tasty.

[Kriegsspiel]

200g of protein, or 200g of sunflower sprouts?

[sky]

About 200g of microgreens. My vertical microfarm is set up to provide 150g sunflower shoots, 30g brassicas and 30g radish daily. Depending on harvests and my own hunger, I plan to eat that amount daily.

[jennypenny]

I ran across this study today. It says that eating an average of 1.3 servings per day of leafy green vegetables slows cognitive decline at a rate equivalent to being 11 years younger than non-leafy-green-eating counterparts. I assume microgreens would count? They specifically cited phylloquinone, lutein, nitrate, folate, α-tocopherol, and kaempferol as being beneficial.

[7Wannabe5]

Why not just eat sunflower seeds and dandelion greens? Seems pretty obvious that sprouts and micro-greens are more nutritious simply because of the ratio of remnant seed to green plant. I'm allergic to peanuts, so I used to make my kids sunflower seed butter all the time, because they are usually much less expensive than nuts such as cashews or almonds.

[sky]

Having an indoor vertical microfarm allows me to have greens even when there is a lot of snow outside. Sunflower kernels are about half of the weight of a sunflower seed with the shell, so I am taking about 125g of kernels and making 500g+ of greens in 12 days. Dandelions tend to be bitter unless harvested very young, and it would take a lot of time to harvest 500g of young dandelion greens.

[sky]

Slowing cognitive decline is another reason to eat greens. If I eat two servings, maybe it will reverse cognitive decline.

[7Wannabe5]

Yeah, best to pay me no never mind. My cognitive decline from pudding heavy diet is already quite apparent.

[sky]

Dr Greger is one of the few sources of nutrition information that I trust. I learned about him from someone on this forum, perhaps ego.

This video about sulphoraphanes is one of the things that encouraged me to grow microgreens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOn1hVZUDvo

[sky]

Here is a pdf of the study: Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging
Food Products: Edible Microgreens

http://www.sunshinecovefarm.com/wp-cont ... greens.pdf

"Among the 25 microgreens assayed, red cabbage, cilantro, garnet amaranth, and green daikon radish had the highest concentrations of ascorbic acids, carotenoids, phylloquinone, and tocopherols, respectively."

[sky]

https://youtu.be/ciWgwWty6fs

[sky]

Sulforaphane info: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/sulforaphane

It sounds like a daily consumption of 100g to 200g of broccoli sprouts (or brassica greens) can greatly reduce the risk of cancer and reduces cardiovascular disease. Studies indicate it may increase longevity.

[sky]

Broccoli Microgreens: A Mineral-Rich Crop That Can Diversify Food Systems
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5362588/

[jennypenny]

Does anyone know what the broccoli greens taste like? Do most of the microgreens tend to taste like the full grown plant? I usually order the mixed varieties but I'm thinking of branching out in my next order.