2024 Volume 15 Issue 2 Pages 151-156
Microgreens are innovative vegetable products related to their novelty and health-promoting benefits. However, growth media and light conditions affect microgreens’ nutritional content, which may limit their production in rural community settings. Brassica carinata is an essential local Kenyan vegetable, but its production and full utilization are limited by its early maturity. The potential of using B. carinata as a microgreen would be an excellent alternative production technique to minimize its early maturity limitation. This study investigated the influence of white and blue light on Vitamin C and phenol content in B. carinata microgreens grown using sand and cocopeat. B. carinata microgreens were grown for 14 days in a growth chamber using plastic punnet containers filled with cocopeat and sand under white and blue light. The capillary wick watering technique was used for irrigation. Temperature and relative humidity were monitored and maintained at 26°C± 2, and 60%, respectively. The photoperiod and intensity of light were also maintained at 12 hr and 160 ± 2.5 µmol m−2s−1) respectively. After 14 days, microgreens were harvested and freeze-dried to analyze Vitamin C and phenol content. And. Data was subjected to ANOVA and was separated by Tukey’s multiple comparison test. Results indicated that light had no significant effect on B. carinata microgreens phenol content. However, microgreens grown in locally available sand showed statistically higher amounts of phenol content than those grown using cocopeat. For vitamin C content, media and light had no significant effect. Our results show that sand medium can be used equally to produce microgreens with higher phenol content for Brassica carinata.
