WELCOME TO PIEDMONT MICROGREENS!
We are an indoor farm growing microgreens locally and sustainably in Durham, NC.
Microgreens are the young seedlings of the same vegetables you find at the grocery store. Not to be confused with sprouts, microgreens take between one and four weeks to grow. Plants progress from a seed to a microgreen, then 'baby' greens, and, eventually, a mature vegetable.
WHAT ARE MICROGREENS?
WHY MICROGREENS?
Microgreens are beautiful, tasty, and packed with those beneficial nutrients that we often look for in ‘dark leafy greens.’ Actually, many varieties contain a greater density of healthy compounds than their adult versions. “In general, microgreens contain considerably higher concentrations of vitamins and carotenoids than their mature plant counterparts.” [1]
Protein
· Sunflower microgreens rank high in protein content, containing almost 4g of protein per 100g of fresh shoots. [1]
Fiber
· Radish microgreens are a great source of soluble dietary fiber (SDF), which, when paired with insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), helps facilitate weight loss, prevent and treat constipation, control serum cholesterol, and stimulate beneficial microorganisms in the gut. [2]
Vitamins & Minerals
· When compared with the USDA National Nutrient Database, radish microgreens had an astounding 976x more α-tocopherol than mature radish leaves. α-tocopherol is a form of the fat-soluble nutrient Vitamin E, which sunflowers shoots also rank high in. [2]
· We’ve all come to associate β-carotene, a powerful antioxidant, with carrots. However, fennel, radish, and mustard microgreens exhibit higher concentrations than carrots. [2]
· One study found the Vitamin K1 and Vitamin C concentrations of broccoli microgreens to be greater than mature broccoli florets. The same study found high levels of Vitamin K1 in kale, radish, and kohlrabi microgreens. [3]
· Many microgreen varieties have a higher nutrient quality score (NQS) than mature spinach leaves, which is well known as a nutrient-rich leafy green. “This is indicative of the higher nutritional value of culinary microgreens compared to mature vegetables.” [2]
[1] Manjula D. Ghoora, Dandamudi Rajesh Babu, & N. Srividya. (2020). Nutrient Composition, Oxalate Content & Nutritional Ranking of Ten Culinary Microgreens. Journal of Food Composition & Analysis. 91: 103495.
[2] Zhenlei Xiao, Steven R. Rausch, Yaguang Luo, Jianghao Sun, Lu Yu, Qin Wang, Pei Chen, Liangli Yu, & John R. Stommel. (2019). Microgreens of Brassicaceae: Genetic Diversity of Phytochemical Concentrations & Antioxidant Capacity. Food Science & Technology 101. 731 – 737.
[3] Zhenlei Xiao, Gene E. Lester, Yaguang Luo, & Qin Wang. (2012). Assessment of Vitamin & Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens. Journal of Agriculture & Food Chemistry. 60: 7644 – 7651.