Metabolic, Biochemical, Mineral and Fatty acid profiles of edible Brassicaceae microgreens establish them as promising functional food

Hidden hunger due to micronutrient deficiencies affecting one in three people is a global concern. Identifying functional foods which provide vital health beneficial components in addition to the nutrients is of immense health relevance. Microgreens are edible seedlings enriched with concentrated minerals and phytochemicals whose dietary potential as functional foods needs evaluation. In this study, comprehensive biochemical, mineral, metabolic, and fatty acid profiles of four Brassicaceae microgreens - mustard (Brassica juncea), pak choi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis), radish pink (Raphanus sativus), and radish white (Raphanus ruphanistrum) was investigated. The biochemical and mineral profiling confirmed their promising nutritional and antioxidant nature and as excellent sources of minerals. Mineral profiling using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) exhibited promising levels of Fe, Mn, Mg, K, and Ca in microgreens. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolite profiling highlighted a range of phytochemicals-sugars, amino acids, organic acids, amines, fatty acids, phenol, and other molecules. Fatty acid profiling established promising levels of Oleic acid (C18:1; Monounsaturated fatty acids-MUFA) and linoleic acids (C18:2; omega-6 Poly unsaturated fatty acid-PUFA), which are health beneficial. It is estimated that fresh microgreens (100 g) can meet about 20 % to 50 % recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of macro- and micro-minerals along with providing useful fatty acids and antioxidants. Overall, the study highlighted Brassicaceae microgreens as an excellent nutrient source that can act as functional foods with promising potential to overcome "hidden hunger". Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=133 SRC="FIGDIR/small/541100v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (62K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@d3b9c9org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4a7604org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@8a164corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1be187b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG HighlightsO_LIBrassicaceae microgreens are rich in molecules with relevance to nutrition and health C_LIO_LIThe biochemical analysis supported the antioxidant nature of microgreens C_LIO_LIComprehensive metabolite profiles of edible microgreens of Brassica juncea (Mustard), Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis (Pak Choi), Raphanus sativus (Radish Pink), and Raphanus ruphanistrum (Radish white) using GC-MS are reported C_LIO_LIIonomics analysis using the Brassicaceae microgreens exhibited promising levels of microminerals Fe, Mn, Mg, K, and Ca C_LIO_LIFatty acid profiles show promising levels of Linoleic acid and Oleic acid, which have health relevance C_LI