Mineral and antioxidant attributes of petroselinum crispum at different stages of ontogeny: Microgreens vs. baby greens

Abstract

Parsley is an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region and treasured for its phyto-chemical profile and bioactive properties. Developmental stage at harvest is a factor that modulates the nutritional quality of vegetables, including young greens. Accordingly, an experiment under strictly controlled conditions was carried out to compare the mineral macronutrient and phytochem-ical composition as well as the antioxidant activity of plain-leaf parsley (Petroselinum crispum cv. Comune 2) at two different harvest maturity stages, microgreens and baby greens. Macronutrients, carotenoids (lutein and β-carotene) and polyphenols were quantified through ion chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD) and UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), respectively. Microgreens accumulated more potassium and phosphorus, whereas baby greens accumulated more calcium and magnesium, and 65.5% less nitrate. In addition, microgreens provided 1.8-fold more lutein and 2.8-fold more β-carotene, whereas baby greens provided 183.6% more total ascorbic acid, 64.2% more total polyphe-nols and 170.3% higher hydrophilic antioxidant activity. Based on the culinary and phytonutritive scope of the consumers, different harvest maturity stages can be opted for and production schemes de-signed. Future studies are warranted to appraise the importance of ontogeny as a determinant factor for the composition and bioactive value of additional micro-herb genotypes, including underutilized Mediterranean species.