Table 2.

Underutilized plant material for sprouting and microgreen production, consumer acceptance, and highlights of secondary metabolites.

Family	Species	Type of Plant Material	Secondary Metabolites	References
Amaranthaceae	Amaranthus caudatus (foxtail amaranth)	old varieties	High total phenolics, total betalain, and total flavonoid content	[83]
	Amaranthus cruentus (red amaranth)	old varieties	Amaranth sprouts are a good source of anthocyanins and total phenolics with high antioxidant activity	[83,84]
	Amaranthus hypochondriacus (Prince’s feather)	ornamental	Good source of antioxidants, especially the leaves	[83]
	Amaranthus tricolor (edible amaranth)	landrace	A genebank accession (VI044470) consistently received the highest ratings for appearance, texture, taste, and general acceptability at the sprout, microgreen, and fully grown stage compared to commercial cultivars	[45]
	Atriplex hortensis (red orach)	under-utilized	Ascorbic acid content	[69]
	Chenopodium album (pigweed)	under-utilized	Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content are enhanced in germinated C. album seeds	[85]
	Chenopodium quinoa (quinoa)	old variety	Quinoa sprouts are a good source of anthocyanins and total phenolics with high antioxidant activity	[84]
Apiaceae	Anethum graveolens (dill)	under-utilized	Total phenolic and total flavonoid content; antioxidant activity	[86]
	Coriandrum sativum (coriander)	under-utilized	A strong influence of the substrate on the content of carotenoids and total phenolics	[87]
Araliaceae	Panax ginseng (Korean ginseng)	under-utilized medicinal plant	Ginsenosides (triterpene glycoside saponin)	[81,82]
Asteraceae	Artemisia dracunculus (tarragon)	aromatic herb	N/A; red and blue LED exposure enhances germination and growth of tarragon sprouts	[88]
	Cichorium intybus (chicory)	medicinal herb	Total phenolics, tocopherols, anthocyanins, high levels of carotenoids	[89]
	Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)	wild plants	Anthocyanins and carotenoids; high Fe content	[33]
Basellaceae	Basella alba (Malabar spinach)	underutilized vegetable	High ascorbic acid and total phenolic content	[90]
Boraginaceae	Borago officinalis (borage)	medicinal herb	Total phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant capacity	[91]
	Phacelia tanacetifolia (phacelia)	wildflower	Total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity	[80]
Brassicaceae	Brassica oleracea var. italica (broccoli)	landrace	(1) High polyphenol content in broccoli landrace; (2) highest vitamin C content found in microgreens of broccoli landrace	[76]
	Brassica oleracea var. acephala (kale)	landrace	(1) Higher content of flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol derivatives) in traditional cultivars than in modern cultivars (hybrids); (2) among 8 cultivars, higher concentrations of lutein and β-carotene were found in old cultivars	[49]
	Sinapis arvensis (field mustard)	under-utilized	Carotenoids and anthocyanins	[33]
	Wasabi japonica (wasabi)	under-utilized	Ascorbic acid, β-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin content	[69]
Convolvulaceae	Ipomoea aquatica (water spinach)	under-utilized	High total phenolics and total flavonoid content; high antioxidant activity	[89,90]
Cucurbitaceae	Cucumis sativus (cucumber)	under-utilized	High ascorbic acid content	[90]
	Cucurbita moschata pumpkin)	under-utilized	High total phenolics and total flavonoids content	[90]
	Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd)	under-utilized	High total phenolics content; high antioxidant activity; high Cu and Fe levels	[90]
Fabaceae	Glycine max (soybean)	landrace	Nutrient and antioxidant contents of soybean sprouts were superior to mungbean sprouts	[92]
	Medicago intertexta (hedgehog medick)	wild species	Total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities	[93]
	Medicago polymorpha (bur clover)	wild, invasive species	Total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities	[93]
	Melilotus indicus (annual yellow sweet clover)	wild species	Total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities	[93]
	Vigna radiata (mungbean)	landrace	(1) Old mungbean accessions were superior in protein, calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), carotenoid, and vitamin C content compared to improved mungbean lines at the fully mature stage; (2) compared to commercial mungbean varieties, a landrace from Taiwan (VI000323) showed the highest levels of caffeic acid and kaempferol at the sprouting and fully mature stage	[92]
Lamiaceae	Ocimum basilicum (Sweet basil)	culinary herb	High phylloquinone and total phenolics concentration	[39]
	Ocimum x africanum (lemon basil)	culinary herb	Total phenolic and total flavonoid content; antioxidant activity	[86]
	Ocimum sanctum (sacred basil)	medicinal herb	Total phenolic and total flavonoid content; antioxidant activity	[86]
	Salvia hispanica (chia)	under-utilized	Total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity.	[80]
Linaceae	Linum flavum (golden flax)	under-utilized	Total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity.	[80]
Malvaceae	Corchorus olitorius (jute mallow)	under-utilized	High ascorbic acid and total phenolics content; high antioxidant activity	[90]
	Hibiscus subdariffa (red roselle)	under-utilized culinary herb	Anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids contribute to the antioxidative activity	[65]
Onagraceae	Oenothera biennis (evening primrose)	under-utilized	Total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity	[80]
Plantaginaceae	Plantago coronopus (buck’s-horn plantain)	wild herb	Total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity	[94]
Polygonaceae	Rumex acetosa (sorrel)	wild herb	Total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity	[94]
Portulacaceae	Portulaca oleracea (purslane)	wild herb	Total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity	[94]
Rosaceae	Sanguisorba minor (salad burnet)	under-utilized	Carotenoids and anthocyanins; high amounts of Mg, P, Zn, Mn, and Mo	[33]