Microgreens: nutritional properties, health benefits, production techniques, and food safety risks

"Microgreens" is a hypothetical name given to a new class of edible plants that have become popular in recent years. Microgreens are plants that are larger than sprouts and smaller than baby greens, with an average height of 2-8 cm. They have some advantages, such as the microgreens are better than mature greens in terms of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phenolic compounds and the dense and digestible nutrient profile they contain. Microgreens appeal to vegan and vegetarian individuals and simple cultivation in a home environment. Industrial cultivation techniques are being developed under different environmental conditions to ensure that microgreens have a superior nutritional profile. Also, the current health benefits of microgreens are noteworthy. On the other hand, they may pose some food safety risks, especially due to cross-contamination which has created the need to establish suitable decontamination methods for microgreens. Microgreens have become a great topic of interest in the last 10 years, and studies in areas such as nutritional properties and health benefits, production techniques and food safety risks are increasing in the existing literature. This creates the need to bring together existing knowledge about microgreens. Therefore, the aim of this study is to conduct a very detailed literature review about microgreens.