Abstract:
Micro greens are immature greens that have gained recognition as functional
foods due to their rich phytochemical profile. It consists of a central stem, a
pair of cotyledon leaves, and the first true leaves, and these have harvest
maturity around two weeks from sowing. Micro greens have excellent
sensorial appeal with vibrant colours, delicate flavours, and a crunchy
texture, allowing them to be rawly consumed as excellent salad crops.
Although microgreens have higher functional benefits it has a challenging
limited shelf life of around 3 to 5 days at ambient temperature. This study
examined the phytochemical composition of fresh and dried mustard, radish,
and mung bean microgreens to evaluate the application of excess
microgreens as a culinary powder, dried at 40℃ until a constant weight. One
gram of equivalent dry-weight basis samples was taken from both fresh and
dry microgreens and the methanolic extract of samples was used to evaluate
total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and DPPH
radical scavenging antioxidant activity (inhibition %). The results indicated
dry powder of mustard microgreens has higher antioxidant activity (72.40%)
and TFC (51.38%) but lower TPC (42.75%) and radish microgreen dry
powder has higher antioxidant activity (23.33%), but lower TFC (55.67%)
and TPC (54.20%) than fresh microgreens. Mung bean microgreen dry
powder has higher antioxidant activity (84.90%) and similar TFC but lower
TPC (42.37%) than fresh microgreens. Dry powder of radish microgreens
was reported to have the highest TPC (133.98±0.14 mg (GAE)/g), TFC
(203.40±0.70 mg (RE)/g) and antioxidant activity (80.50±0.59% inhibition)
values. The study found that dried microgreens exhibited higher antioxidant
activities and total flavonoid content (in mustard), however, they reported
less total phenolic contents than their fresh counterparts in these three
varieties. Overall, this study provides information on the suitability of excess
microgreens as a culinary powder.
