Nutritional profiling and nutrient quality scoring of microgreens cultivated in India

Micronutrient deficiency remains a major public health challenge in India, where dietary diversity is often limited among low-income populations. Microgreens, young edible seedlings harvested at the two-true-leaf stage (7–21 days post-germination), have recently gained traction as potentially nutrient-dense functional foods. However, systematic compositional data for commercial varieties of Microgreens grown in India remain scarce. In this study, sixteen commonly consumed vegetable species from five botanical families (Brassicaceae, Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Apiaceae, and Compositae) were cultivated under controlled polyhouse conditions in Bihar, India. They were evaluated for vitamin C, crude fiber, protein, total phenolic content (TPC), DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity, FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) assay, and mineral content (calcium, iron, zinc, and potassium), as well as oxalate, an antinutritional factor. All analyses were conducted in three independent replicates. Data were expressed as mg 100 g −1 fresh weight (FW) for vitamin C, protein, oxalate, and TPC, and mg 100 g −1 dry weight (DW) for minerals. The data were statistically analyzed using a Completely Randomized Design with three replicates. Radish, kale, broccoli, and fenugreek were the richest sources of vitamin C (85.77–97.88 mg 100 g −1 FW), while celery, parsley, palak, and spinach were the richest sources of calcium (320.14-410.15 mg 100 g −1 DW). The crude fiber content of broccoli microgreen (11.95 g 100 g −1 DW) and cabbage microgreen (11.48 g 100 g −1 DW) was good. Low oxalate content across all microgreen species (15.89–55.14 mg 100 g −1 FW) suggests safe consumption levels. The composite Nutrient Quality Score (NQS) and Antioxidant Index (AI) were calculated using Min-Max normalized values to enable cross-species comparison. Palak, broccoli, fenugreek, and kale ranked highest in NQS, driven primarily by their vitamin C, crude fiber, and iron content. These findings provide a systematic nutritional reference for microgreens grown in India and illustrate how NQS can be applied to comparative dietary assessment.