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. 2022 Dec 15;11(24):3546.
doi: 10.3390/plants11243546.

Growth and Biochemical Composition of Microgreens Grown in Different Formulated Soilless Media

Roksana Saleh  1 , Lokanadha R Gunupuru  1 , Rajasekaran Lada  1 , Vilis Nams  1 , Raymond H Thomas  2 , Lord Abbey  1
Affiliations

Growth and Biochemical Composition of Microgreens Grown in Different Formulated Soilless Media

Roksana Saleh et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Microgreens are immature young plants grown for their health benefits. A study was performed to evaluate the different mixed growing media on growth, chemical composition, and antioxidant activities of four microgreen species: namely, kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala), Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla), arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa), and pak choi (Brassica rapa var. chinensis). The growing media were T1.1 (30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% PittMoss (PM)); T2.1 (30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% PM); PM was replaced with mushroom compost in the respective media to form T1.2 and T2.2. Positive control (PC) was Pro-mix BX™ potting medium alone. Root length was the highest in T1.1 while the shoot length, root volume, and yield were highest in T2.2. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of Swiss chard grown in T1.1 was the highest, followed by T2.2 and T1.1. Pak choi and kale had the highest sugar and protein contents in T2.2, respectively. Consistently, total phenolics and flavonoids of the microgreens were increased by 1.5-fold in T1.1 and T2.2 compared to PC. Antioxidant enzyme activities were increased in all the four microgreens grown in T1.1 and T2.2. Overall, T2.2 was the most effective growing media to increase microgreens plant growth, yield, and biochemical composition.

Keywords: healthy food; microgreens; natural amendment; phytochemicals; soil health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total root length (A); total shoot length (B); root volume (C); yield (D) of arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa), pak choi (Brasica rapa var. chinensis), kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) microgreens as affected by different growing media comprised of T1.1: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% PM; T1.2: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% MC; T2.1: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% PM; T2.2: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% MC; NC: 60% sawdust + 40% PittMoss; and PC: Pro-mix BX™ potting medium alone. Vertical bars represent standard errors of the means (N = 3). Bars with a common lower-case letter signifies treatment means that were not significantly different at p < 0.05.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Total root length (A); total shoot length (B); root volume (C); yield (D) of arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa), pak choi (Brasica rapa var. chinensis), kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) microgreens as affected by different growing media comprised of T1.1: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% PM; T1.2: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% MC; T2.1: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% PM; T2.2: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% MC; NC: 60% sawdust + 40% PittMoss; and PC: Pro-mix BX™ potting medium alone. Vertical bars represent standard errors of the means (N = 3). Bars with a common lower-case letter signifies treatment means that were not significantly different at p < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chlorophyll a (A) and b (B), total chlorophyll (C) and carotenoid (D) contents of arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa), pak choi (Brasica rapa var. chinensis), kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) microgreens as affected by different growing media comprised of T1.1: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% PM; T1.2: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% MC; T2.1: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% PM; T2.2: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% MC; NC: 60% sawdust + 40% PittMoss; and PC: Pro-mix BX™ potting medium alone. Vertical bars represent standard errors of the means (N = 3); significant at p < 0.01. Bars with a common lower-case letter signifies treatment means that were not significantly different at p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Sugar (A); protein (B); total phenolics (C); total flavonoids (D) contents of arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa), pak choi (Brasica rapa var. chinensis), kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) microgreens as affected by different growing media comprised of T1.1: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% PM; T1.2: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% MC; T2.1: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% PM; T2.2: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% MC; NC: 60% sawdust + 40% PittMoss; and PC: Pro-mix BX™ potting medium alone. Vertical bars represent standard errors of the means (N = 3); significant at p < 0.01. Bars with a common lower-case letter signifies treatment means that were not significantly different at p < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ranking total × total biplot for comparison of treatment × plant species interaction effects on biochemical variations in all microgreens. Arugula (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa) yield (YA), arugula ascorbate (AA), arugula carotenoids (CA), arugula POD Activity (PA), arugula APEX Activity (APXA); Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) yield (YCH), Swiss chard ascorbate (ACH), Swiss chard carotenoids (CCH), Swiss chard POD Activity (PCH), Swiss chard APEX Activity (APXCH); kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) yield (YK), kale ascorbate (AK), kale carotenoids (CK), kale POD Activity (PK), kale APEX Activity (APXK); pak choi (Brasica rapa var. chinensis) yield (YP), pak choi ascorbate (AP), pak choi carotenoids (CP), pak choi POD Activity (PP), pak choi APEX Activity (APXP). T1.1: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% PM; T1.2: 30% vermicast + 30% sawdust + 10% perlite + 30% MC; T2.1: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% PM; T2.2: 30% vermicast + 20% sawdust + 20% perlite + 30% MC; NC: 60% sawdust + 40% PittMoss; and PC: Pro-mix BX™ potting medium alone.
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