Bottom Nutrient Solution Application in Kale (Brassica oleracea var. Tuscan) Microgreens Produces the Best Productivity Metrics and Sensory Attributes

Awarded as Best Paper and Best Presenter

Oral Presentation. 4th International Conference on Research and Development. Bogor, Indonesia. November 16-17, 2024

As arable lands decrease, the shift to crop production in small spaces elevates. Microgreens is an emerging commodity aligned with this goal to produce more food in vertical spaces. However, crop production and management practices could affect the quality of microgreens based on its agronomic and sensory attributes. Thus, this study evaluated the agronomic productivity and sensory acceptability of kale microgreens as affected by different methods of nutrient solution application. Two trials of a completely randomized design experiment were laid out with the following treatments: control (T1), top and bottom (T2), top (T3), and bottom (T4) nutrient solution application. Initial germination rate for the kale microgreens seedlot averaged 87%. Results revealed the bottom nutrient solution application significantly (p<0.05) produced the best productivity metrics, which included stem length (10.94 cm), and fresh weight (91.35 g). In the consumer acceptability test among 80 randomly-selected respondents, the questionnaire was divided into two groups, namely, overall liking using nine-point hedonic scale and assessing the appropriate level of sensory attributes of the samples using the just-about right (JAR) scale. Hedonic scores revealed the best consumer acceptability towards fresh microgreens with bottom nutrient application method with a score of 7.35 (like moderately). It also gained the highest ratings in specific attributes such as color, glossiness, smoothness, thickness, crispiness, and sweetness with a score of 7.28 (like moderately) for the Hedonic scale. JAR scale also revealed an acceptability score of 3.24 based on color, aroma, taste, bitterness, sweetness, and crispiness. This reflects the nascent nature of microgreens for Filipinos, thus, necessitates microgreens consumer education. Since bottom watering also uses less water compared to conventional agriculture, this study can also contribute to attaining sustainable development goals such as responsible consumption and production, while also achieving zero hunger.

Keywords. Kale microgreens; Nutrient application; Productivity metrics; Sensory attributes