Microgreens

Target audience: Parents, children, chefs,

everyone
 Objectives
•Grow microgreens
•Teach what a microgreen is
What are microgreens?
Essentially a microgreen is a whole plant harvested as
a young seedling that has grown to the cotyledon or true
leaf stage. Not to be confused with a sprout.
Microgreens are cut right above the soil usually no
longer than 14 days after they are planted.
These young seedlings are packed with nutrients, up
to 40 times that of their mature counterparts.
These nutrients include vitamins C, K, E, lutein and
beta-carotene, important for skin, eyes and fighting cancer.
How is this possible?
“Because microgreens are harvested right after
germination, all the nutrients they need to grow are there.”
(Warner, 2012)
Microgreens

 Microgreens are more intense in flavor and

come in a variety of colors, attractive qualities
for chefs.

 Parents might also find these plants useful to add

extra nutrients to their children’s meals.

 Children may have fun growing microgreens,

since they are easy to grow indoors. They can
have fun adding them to their meals as
decoration.
Food Science Principle

Storage loss and nutrition

• Since microgreens are usually used and eaten
right after they are harvested (literally cut from
their roots in the soil and transferred to a plate)
there are no concerns about nutrient loss.
• Microgreens normally aren’t cooked so these
plants retain their nutrients when added to dishes.
•When purchased in stores these plants are pre-
cut causing some nutrient loss just by sitting out.
(Bennion & Scheule, 2010 p.354)
Hypothesis

If I plant seeds in soil, water them and put them in

sunlight, then they will grow and I can harvest them before
14 days and have microgreens.

Used a mixture of cabbage, turnip, and lettuce seeds.

Results of Experiment

•The seeds grew as expected.

•They grew for about 10 days.

Limitations

•Some days it was rainy and cloudy so the plants might have not gotten enough
sunlight.
•Could only put in sunlight for a limited amount of time, due to cat and work
circumstances.
References

•Bennion, M., Scheule, B. (2010). Introductory Foods (Ed.

13). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education,
Inc.
•Warner, J. (2012). Tiny Microgreen Packed With
Nutrients. Retrieved from http://
www.webmd.com/diet/news/20120831/tiny- microgreens-
packed-nutrients