Figures (5)  Tables (3)
    • Figure 1. 

      (a), (b) Broccoli plants images and measurements of microgreen (c) yield and (d) plant height. Seedlings of broccoli cultivar Di Cicco grown hydroponically in BioStrate™ growing mats for 11 to 14 d post sowing. Microgreen yield and height were measured at harvest days 11 to 14. Bars represent standard error of the means. Asterisks indicate significant differences in yield or height between harvest days. * Indicates adjusted (adj) p-value = 0.0485; ** indicates adj p-value = 0.0043; **** indicates adj p-value < 0.0001.

    • Figure 2. 

      (a), (b) Radish plant images and measurements of (c) yield and (d) plant height. Radish cultivar Rambo were grown hydroponically in BioStrate™ growing mats for 8 to 11 days post sowing. Radish microgreens' yield and height were measured on harvest days 8 to 11. Bars represent standard error of the means. Asterisks indicate significant differences between harvest days. ** Indicates 0.0002 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0021.

    • Figure 3. 

      Concentrations of broccoli microgreens (a) total chlorophyll and secondary metabolites: (b) glucosinolates, (c) phenolics and (d) antioxidant activity in broccoli microgreens for several harvest days is shown. Bars represent standard error of the means. Asterisks indicate significant differences in total chlorophyll or glucosinolates between harvest days. * Indicates 0.0021 < adj p-value ≤ 0.05; ** indicates 0.0002 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0021; *** indicates 0.0001 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0002.

    • Figure 4. 

      Concentrations of radish microgreens (a) total chlorophyll and secondary metabolites: (a) glucosinolates, (b) phenolics, (c) antioxidant activity, and (d) anthocyanins for radish microgreens at several harvest days is shown. Bars represent standard error of the means. Asterisks indicate significant differences in total anthocyanins between harvest days. * Indicates 0.0021 < adj p-value ≤ 0.05; ** indicates 0.0002 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0021; *** indicates 0.0001 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0002; **** indicates adj p-value < 0.0001.

    • Figure 5. 

      The extent of decay and tissue leakage for (a), (b) broccoli and (c), (d) radish microgreens at several storage days is shown. Bars represent standard error of the means. Asterisks indicate significant differences in total anthocyanins between harvest days. * Indicates 0.0021 < adj p-value ≤ 0.05; ** Indicates 0.0002 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0021; *** indicates 0.0001 < adj p-value ≤ 0.0002; **** indicates adj p-value < 0.0001.

    • ScoreDescriptionVisual quality
      0%Essentially free from defects, freshly harvested
      Excellent
      < 10%Minor defects, not objectionable
      Good
      < 25%Moderately objectionable defectsFair
      > 50%Excessive defects, not saleable, marketability thresholdPoor
      100%Unusable, degraded productVery poor

      Table 1. 

      Microgreen decay evaluation scale based on overall visual analysis modified from Rennie et al.[34].

    • Harvest dayPlant yieldPlant hypocotyl lengthTotal chlorophyllTotal
      phenolics
      Total glucosinolatesTotal antioxidant activityTissue decay after 16 storage daysTissue leakage after 16 storage days
      Harvest day1.000
      Plant yield0.946****1.000
      Plant hypocotyl length0.868**0.872**1.000
      Total chlorophyll0.917****0.930****0.841**1.000
      Total phenolics−0.276−0.286−0.303−0.3431.000
      Total glucosinolates−0.457−0.461−0.334−0.4210.3501.000
      Total antioxidant activity0.735*0.639*0.731*0.574*0.0730.0531.000
      Tissue decay after 16 storage days−0.789*−0.904****−0.750*−0.794*0.2940.3050.4591.000
      Tissue leakage after 16 storage days0.1510.3200.3130.0970.2020.0400.4130.3341.000
      The correlation coefficient (r) values are shown for comparisons of broccoli microgreens quality traits. The asterisks represent significance in r. * indicates 0.0021 < p-value ≤ 0.05; ** indicates 0.0002 < p-value ≤ 0.0021; *** indicates 0.0001 < p-value ≤ 0.0002; **** indicates p-value < 0.0001.

      Table 2. 

      Correlation for broccoli microgreen quality traits.

    • Harvest dayPlant yieldPlant hypocotyl lengthTotal chlorophyllTotal anthocyaninsTotal phenolicsTotal glucosinolatesTotal antioxidant activityTissue decay after 16 storage daysTissue leakage after 16 storage days
      Harvest day1.000
      Plant yield0.875**1.000
      Plant hypocotyl length0.2950.1561.000
      Total chlorophyll0.0250.0260.3311.000
      Total anthocyanins−0.659*−0.391−0.2620.2561.000
      Total phenolics0.2930.4900.2370.107−0.3621.000
      Total glucosinolates−0.267−0.232−0.0140.0850.488−0.4231.000
      Total antioxidant activity0.3240.3950.0480.2730.1950.3920.2901.000
      Tissue decay after 16 storage days−0.673*−0.724*−0.0480.1930.165−0.3170.0300.4111.000
      Tissue leakage after 16 storage days0.2160.3950.0480.3350.1950.3920.2900.3240.4111.000
      The correlation coefficient (r) values are shown for comparisons of radish microgreens quality traits. The asterisks represent significance in r, * indicates 0.0021 < p-value ≤ 0.05; ** indicates 0.0002 < p-value ≤ 0.0021.

      Table 3. 

      Correlation for radish microgreens quality traits.