Vitamins… for veggies?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science…
You are what you eat, and some health conditions can be improved with vitamins and minerals. Less potassium for kidney issues, more iodine for thyroids. So, what if we tailored how much is in our food?
Massimilliano D’Imperio and the Institute of Science of Food Production in Bari, Italy investigated. They used microgreens: seedlings of popular vegetables. They grew them with three different levels of potassium and iodine. Then, they measured how this affected the nutrients’ levels in the plants.
Results?
They grew veggies with up to fourteen times more iodine and forty-five percent less potassium! Researchers believe this could help people manage specific medical conditions better.
Forget multivitamins– I’ll have another salad, please!
Reference: D’Imperio, M., Bonelli, L., Mininni, C., Renna, M., Montesano, F., Parente, A., & Serio, F. (2023). Soilless cultivation systems to produce tailored microgreens for specific nutritional needs. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.13222