Determination of Biochemical Composition and Pigment Content in Legume and Cereal Microgreens

Background: Legumes and cereals microgreens are consumed both in healthy nutrition and as a natural food against many degenerative diseases due to their rich bioactive content. The research was carried out to determine the biochemical contents of 5 legumes and 7 cereals. Methods: The research was conducted in Van Yuzuncu Yil University Field Crops Department Laboratory in 2020, in a controlled growing environment, according to the completely randomized experimental design. Total antioxidant activity, total phenolic, total flavonoid and total ascorbic acid contents and total Chlorophyll, Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll b and Carotenoid contents and correlation between them were determined. Result: The differences between the means of all traits were found to be significant. The biochemical contents of cereals were 1.6-7 times higher than legumes. There was no big difference between the pigment values. In legumes, Bilensoy alfalfa had the highest total antioxidat activity and total flavonoid content, Uzbek lentil total phenolic content and Goynuk bean had the highest Total ascorbic acid. In cereals, Kirklar oat had the highest total antioxidat activity, total phenolic, total flavonoid and total ascorbic acid contents, while Larende barley had the lowest values (except total ascorbic acid content). While total Chlorophyll and Chlorophyll a amounts were highest in Kirklar barley and lowest in Uzbek lentils, the opposite situation occurred in Chlorophyll b and Carotenoid amounts. There was no significant correlation between biochemical parameters in legumes. There was a positive and significant correlation between total phenolic content with total antioxidant activity and between total ascorbic acid with total fenolic content in cereals. There were positive and significant correlations between all pigment parameters in both legumes and cereals.

Automated summary

The study revealed that cereals have higher biochemical contents compared to legumes, with significant differences among different varieties. Within legumes, no significant correlations were found between different parameters, while in cereals, there was a positive correlation between total phenolic content with total antioxidant activity and between total ascorbic acid with total phenolic content. Positive and significant correlations were observed between all pigment parameters in both legumes and cereals.