Cereal and pseudocereal microgreens: Emerging functional foods for human health and sustainability

Abstract

Whole grain cereals and pseudocereals have long served as staple sources of energy and nutrients. However, their nutritional potential is often limited by moderate protein content, low bioavailability of key micronutrients, and anti-nutritional factors such as phytic acid. To enhance their nutritional value and expand their food applications, strategies such as sprouting, fermentation, selective breeding, and thermal processing have been explored. This review highlights microgreening as an emerging approach to transform grains into nutrient-rich ingredients by critically exploring the nutritional, bioactive, and functional properties of cereal (e.g., wheat, sorghum, barley, oats) and pseudocereal (e.g., quinoa, amaranth, chia) microgreens, which exhibit significantly higher levels of protein, minerals, and antioxidants compared to their mature forms. The review also explores key agronomic and environmental factors such as light, temperature, and growth medium, that influence their chemical composition. In addition to their health promoting properties, microgreens contribute to sustainable food systems through space efficient cultivation methods suitable for urban and even extraterrestrial agriculture. Despite their potential, challenges remain in terms of cost, shelf-life, microbial safety, marketing, and standardisation. This review highlights the need for further clinical validation, optimization of post-harvest technologies, and regulatory frameworks to fully integrate microgreens into functional food markets. Ultimately, cereal and pseudocereal microgreens represent a novel class of functional foods with the potential to address global nutritional deficiencies and support resilient food systems.