Study to determine the nutritional components and antioxidant capacity of some cruciferous baby vegetables

Abstract

Baby cruciferous vegetables are young vegetables, smaller in size than mature vegetables, which are becoming popular with consumers in recent times due to their freshness and nutritional benefits. In the context of this study, an examination was conducted to assess the content of some basic nutrients, total polyphenols, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity of three cruciferous vegetables, including: baby rocket, baby kale, and baby spinach. The results highlighted significant differences among the vegetables, with baby rocket exhibiting notably higher levels of nutrients and antioxidants than the other two vegetables; in particular, baby rocket had a water content of 91.54%, protein content of 4.28%, crude fibre content of 0.84%, total polyphenol content of 119.2 mg/100 g dry matter basis; total  flavonoid content of 431.90 mg/100 g dry matter basis, and antioxidant capacity of 59674.27 μmol TE/100 g of fresh vegetable. These results provide a foundation for potential applications of these vegetables to process some products, such as whole-fibre vegetable powder and soluble vegetable powder.