Abstract
The microgreen industry in North America has experienced continuous growth, with an increasing number of species, including vegetables, herbs, and grains, being produced as microgreens. Cultural practices significantly impact the productivity and nutrient composition of various microgreen species. The hypothesis of this study was that optimal cultural practices, including seeding density and substrate type in microgreen production, should be species dependent. This study investigated shoot growth, visual quality, and mineral nutrient compositions of four herbal microgreen species, including basil, chives, scallion, and shiso, in two experiments as affected by five seeding densities, including 75, 150, 225, 300, and 375 g·m−2, when grown with a peat-based soilless substrate, and a hydroponic mat made from jute fibers. Microgreen fresh shoot weights generally increased with increasing seeding density, with scallion producing the highest fresh shoot weight at 375 g·m−2, whereas the 375 g·m−2 seeding density increased fresh shoot weight compared with 75 to 225 g·m−2, but resulted in similar fresh shoot yield to 300 g·m−2 in basil, chives, and shiso. Scallion and shiso microgreens produced higher fresh shoot weight when grown on peat-based substrate, while basil and chives produced higher fresh shoot weight on jute mat compared with peat in one or both experiments. Substrate type also altered mineral nutrient concentrations in tested microgreens with peat substrate increasing phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S), and jute mat increasing nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) in one or more species.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Scallion produced the highest fresh shoot weight at 375 g·m−2 seeding density.
- Taxon
- scallione1
- Treatment
- seeding densitye1
- Outcome
- fresh shoot weighte1
- Direction
- higheste1
- Value
- 375 g·m−2e1
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“Microgreen fresh shoot weights generally increased with increasing seeding density, with scallion producing the highest fresh shoot weight at 375 g·m−2”
Claim · model-written summary
The 375 g·m−2 seeding density increased fresh shoot weight of basil, chives and shiso compared with 75 to 225 g·m−2.
- Taxon
- basil, chives, and shiso
Ocimum basilicum
Allium schoenoprasum
Perilla frutescens var. crispae1 - Treatment
- 375 g·m−2 seeding densitye1
- Outcome
- fresh shoot weighte1
- Direction
- increasede1
- Comparator
- 75 to 225 g·m−2e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“the 375 g·m−2 seeding density increased fresh shoot weight compared with 75 to 225 g·m−2, but resulted in similar fresh shoot yield to 300 g·m−2 in basil, chives, and shiso”
Claim · model-written summary
The 375 g·m−2 seeding density gave fresh shoot yield similar to 300 g·m−2 in basil, chives and shiso.
- Taxon
- basil, chives, and shisoOcimum basilicumAllium schoenoprasumPerilla frutescens var. crispae1
- Treatment
- 375 g·m−2 seeding densitye1
- Outcome
- fresh shoot yielde1
- Direction
- similare1
- Comparator
- 300 g·m−2e1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“the 375 g·m−2 seeding density increased fresh shoot weight compared with 75 to 225 g·m−2, but resulted in similar fresh shoot yield to 300 g·m−2 in basil, chives, and shiso”
Claim · model-written summary
Scallion and shiso produced higher fresh shoot weight on peat-based substrate.
- Taxon
- Scallion and shisoe1
- Treatment
- peat-based substratee1
- Outcome
- fresh shoot weighte1
- Direction
- highere1
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“Scallion and shiso microgreens produced higher fresh shoot weight when grown on peat-based substrate, while basil and chives produced higher fresh shoot weight on jute mat compared with peat in one or both experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Basil and chives produced higher fresh shoot weight on jute mat than on peat in one or both experiments.
- Taxon
- basil and chivesOcimum basilicumAllium schoenoprasume1
- Treatment
- jute mate1
- Outcome
- fresh shoot weighte1
- Direction
- highere1
- Qualifier
- in one or both experimentse1
- Comparator
- peate1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Scallion and shiso microgreens produced higher fresh shoot weight when grown on peat-based substrate, while basil and chives produced higher fresh shoot weight on jute mat compared with peat in one or both experiments”
Claim · model-written summary
Peat substrate increased phosphorus, potassium and calcium concentrations in tested microgreens.
- Taxon
- tested microgreense1
- Treatment
- peat substratee1
- Outcome
- phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca)e1
- Direction
- increasinge1
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“Substrate type also altered mineral nutrient concentrations in tested microgreens with peat substrate increasing phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S), and jute mat increasing nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) in one or more species”
Claim · model-written summary
Peat substrate increased sulfur concentration in tested microgreens.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“Substrate type also altered mineral nutrient concentrations in tested microgreens with peat substrate increasing phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S), and jute mat increasing nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) in one or more species”
Claim · model-written summary
Jute mat increased nitrogen and magnesium concentrations in one or more microgreen species.
- Taxon
- tested microgreense1
- Treatment
- jute mate1
- Outcome
- nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg)e1
- Direction
- increasinge1
- Qualifier
- in one or more speciese1
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“Substrate type also altered mineral nutrient concentrations in tested microgreens with peat substrate increasing phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S), and jute mat increasing nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg) in one or more species”
The same questions in other papers
density · yield · Allium schoenoprasum (chive)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- positive
density · yield · Ocimum basilicum (basil)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
6 papers more in this group
See all 10 papers →density · growth · Perilla frutescens (beefsteak plant)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- positive
density · growth · Ocimum basilicum (basil)Results agree
7 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
4 papers more in this group
See all 8 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.