What exactly are microgreens?

Apr 19

What exactly are these tiny little vegetables? Why doesn’t broccoli look like broccoli:? What’s the difference between microgreens and sprouts??

Microgreens as a culinary ingredient have been gaining popularity since the 1990s on the back of it’s still preferred companion, avocado toast. Chef based in Australia coined the now famous dish and included were these tiny seedlings. They were cute and colorful. Peppery varieties like radish and arugula. Crunchy favorites like sunflower and melon. Or kitchen classics like broccoli, basil, and kale.

So people have known they were edible and tasty for decades, but why are they popular now? Well recently science has been confirming the major health benefits of microgreens and the news has spread around the globe.

Why doesn’t the broccoli look like broccoli?

At their core, microgreens are short plants that are harvested very early on, right after their first “true leaves” begin to form. What does that mean?

When a seed germinates, the teeny tiny roots are too sensitive to use the robust nutrients that are in the soil. So they live off of the nutrients contained in the seed itself until the plant is strong enough to feed on the full strength of the soil. Topside, the sprout has formed small “baby leaves” that allow them to collect the usually faint light of late spring sunshine. Only 2 of these “baby leaves” or cotyledons form before the “true leaves'“ or adult leaves begin to form.

Think baby teeth. As a baby grows, their teeth come in but as they grow up, they lose the baby teeth for full size teeth more suitable to adult life.

After about 2 weeks (depending on variety), those big leaves start to form. This is an important phase in the health benefits of these seedlings. (Notice I didn’t say sprouts. We’ll come back to this.) At this point these new adult leaves contain many many of the nutrients that the plants will eventually need to grow during it’s lifetime. If left uninterrupted, they would continue their lifecycle and grow the familiar broccoli, kale, melon, flowers, etc that we’re used to. Alas, this is where we step in. When harvested so early in the lifecycle, these nutrients are trapped in the miniature microgreen leaves. Phytonutrients contained in them, including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Potassium, Zinc, folate, chlorophyll, antioxidants, and more; are more nutrient dense than their counterparts and are shown to contribute to anti-cancer properties, better gut health, lowered inflammation, and improved cardiovascular health and blood pressure.* They’re really a vitamin shot.

So what’s the difference with sprouts?

Think of sprouts as falling somewhere between seed and microgreen. It’s an earlier phase in the life cycle before the leaves form. They are a fantastic culinary ingredient with a wonderful taste but it is only the root phase of the plant. We want those leaves for those health benefits baby!

Also, sprouts tend to grow best in very wet, damp, conditions. Which is also the ideal conditions for mold.

Microgreens are grown in soil with plenty of ventilation in order to keep that mold at bay. With a lower humidity and proper air flow, microgreens will stay mold-free their entire life cycle.

Microgreens may be new to the health world but the culinary world has long enjoyed these delicious vegetables. And not only are they healthy for the human body, they are also healthy for our planet.