A Quick Guide to Kale Microgreen Nutrition

Kale Microgreen Nutrition: Every Bite Packed with Vitamins

Suddenly, kale is everywhere. No longer considered gourmet ingredients in upscale restaurants, these nutrient-rich greens have become increasingly popular among gardeners, home growers, and home cooks.

Kale microgreens have concentrated levels of vitamins A, B, C, E, and K and calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and phytonutrients, including polyphenols, glucosinolates, flavanol compounds, and carotenoid antioxidants.

Kale is a leafy, green, cruciferous vegetable that belongs to the Brassicaceae family, as do cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and bok choy.

Kale microgreens are the young plants that emerge from the seeds before they develop into full-grown, mature plants.

They have small leaves compared to mature kale, which has large, flat, or curly leaves and a strong central stem.

Kale microgreens grow quickly and can be harvested just a week to 10 days after planting the seeds. Both the microgreens’ leaves and stems are edible.

There is more than one type of kale microgreen.

You’ll most frequently find Scotch Blue Curled Kale microgreens with white stems and curly, green leaves.

But I prefer Red Russian Kale microgreens, which have pink to violet stems, light green, smooth seed leaves, and frilly true leaves.

Kale is often thought of as having a bitter taste, but Red Russian Kale microgreens are much sweeter and the tenderest of all kale varieties.

Not only do I love Red Russian Kale as a microgreen, but the leaf edges of the mature greens are dark with red stems and veins with ruffled edges that add a pop of color and contrast to other salad greens.

By the way, Red Russian Kale microgreens can also be planted in the garden, as there is no difference between garden seeds and microgreens seeds.

With their mild flavor, these young vegetable greens are also easy to grow in the garden or bought at farmer's markets everywhere.

Another good thing about kale, whether fresh microgreens or fresh from the garden, is that both have a long shelf life when kept in a plastic bag to reduce moisture loss.

Kale microgreens have become so popular because they’re considered one of the most nutritious “superfoods” available with multiple health benefits while also being low in calories.

In addition, research has found that kale microgreens have a much higher nutrient content than their mature counterparts.

Kale microgreens, red cabbage microgreens, sunflower microgreens, and pea shoots are some of the most nutritious microgreens.

Kale Microgreens Contain Important Phytochemicals

Kale is also an excellent source of phytochemicals. These compounds produced by plants, included polyphenols, glucosinolates, flavanol compounds, and carotenoid antioxidants.

Phytochemicals slow the growth of some cancer cells and are why microgreens, baby leaf greens and other leafy vegetables are considered to have anticancer properties.

They prevent cellular DNA damage that may lead to cancer, reduce inflammation, and aid the immune system.

How Kale Microgreens are Grown May Impact Nutrient Levels

Recent research has found that kale (as well as broccoli) microgreens as grown on windowsills of many homes or with artificial light are high in phytochemicals—yet the levels varied significantly between the two growing environments.

Even though kale microgreens can be grown in indirect sunlight, you will find elevated amounts of phytonutrients and greater nutritional value in young microgreens grown under LED shop lights or a grow light.

ACS Food Science & Technology, built on a previous study that Thomas Wang and Pei Chen did with Red Cabbage microgreens by growing broccoli and kale seeds on a windowsill in natural sunlight and in a refrigerator-like growth chamber to control temperature and humidity with 12 hours of artificial sunlight daily.

Harvesting the plants 10 days after seeding, the team analyzed the phytonutrient content.

They found that regardless of the growing environment, the kale and broccoli microgreens were both high in polyphenols and glucosinolates.

Yet there was significant variability in the amounts of specific individual phytonutrient types.

For example, the windowsill-grown microgreens had higher levels of three flavanol types that contribute to the microgreens’ dark color and taste.

While the chamber-grown microgreens had higher levels of two glucosinolates which are antioxidant compounds.

This suggests that the microgreen growth environment significantly affects the abundance of individual phytonutrients, which could impact flavor and their health benefits.

When indoor gardening, it’s essential to control environmental conditions such as room temperature and light intensity as they will affect the levels of some compounds and the health benefits of microgreens.

These differences are why I don't like to include the often precise percentages of vitamins and minerals that microgreens may contain because the plants' nutritional contents depend on how the microgreen is grown.

Some is Better Than None

But what should not be forgotten is that regardless of the growing conditions, microgreens will contain levels of healthful compounds, detoxification enzymes, and anticancer-related compounds.

The levels of these compounds may vary, but some are better than none.

So, grow microgreens even if you can't provide the perfect environmental conditions.

You will still benefit from all of the nutritional and health related phytonutrients they produce.

Are You Ready to Grow Kale Microgreens?

Home Microgreens sells Kale Microgreen Kits and Kale microgreen seed.

You can see these products by clicking the buttons below or find all of our kale-related products and seed by typing "kale" into the search bar.