## 4 Discussion
### Antioxidative Properties  
Vitamin C is a necessary dietary ingredient for the human body, operating as an antioxidant. [PERSON] et al. [39] studied microgreens and their counterparts in nine plants and showed that the concentration of ascorbic acid ranged from 10 to 199.99 mg/100 g FW in mature vegetables, whereas in microgreens, it ranged from 6 to 52.31 mg per 100 g FW. These authors concluded that the human body can fully access the ascorbic acid present in microgreens as they are generally consumed fresh, so the amounts are not so important. [PERSON] et al. [4] examined ten young culinary seedlings such as spinach, onion, fennel, carrot, sunflower, radish, mustard, roselle, and French basil. According to the author,vitamin C ranged from 41.6 to 139.8 mg/100 g [4]. A comparable content in terms of total ascorbic acid was determined in 25 species of microgreens (20.4-147.0 mg/100 g FW) [40] and in another study on 30 varieties of _Brassica_ seedlings (32.9-120 mg/100 g FW) [37]. The study of [PERSON] et al. [41] confirmed a higher level (six times greater than its mature counterpart) of vitamin C in the young shoots of broccoli and cauliflower. In a prior study, [PERSON] et al. [40] reported that the microgreens of red cabbage and garnet amaranth contained the highest vitamin C level, followed by China rose radish, opal basil, and opal radish. These authors also showed that the shoots of red cabbage had six times more vitamin C in comparison to their mature counterparts, and additionally, the shoots of garnet amaranth had a significantly higher vitamin C content than its mature counterpart. However, [PERSON] et al. [42] found that the shoots of kale and mustard were characterized by a lower vitamin C content in comparison to their full-grown stages. [PERSON] et al. [43], in turn, showed that mustard shoots have a higher vitamin C content (606.87 ug/g f.w.) than the young shoots of daikon, broccoli, and watercress (124.1-137.52 ug/g FW), and rocket shoots (which contained only 29.67 ug/g FW of this vitamin). [PERSON] et al. [44] studied the nutritional profiles and the growth conditions (under the light with a 16 h light/8 h dark cycle) for mung bean, pearl-millet, mustard, lentil, red radish, and red cabbage microgreens. The content of ascorbic acid in 100 grams of fresh mass was between 16.34 mg in mung bean and 140.22 in red cabbage. Carotenoids are secondary plant metabolites and lipid-soluble (from yellow to red) pigments. While all the 25 young shoots examined in the study of [PERSON] et al. [40] contained lutein and zeaxanthin, cilarto had the highest levels of lutein and zeaxanthin (10.1 mg/100 g FW), followed by the young shoots of red sorrel, red cabbage, and garnet amaranth (8.8, 8.6, and 8.4 mg/100 g FW, respectively). The lowest concentration of lutein and zeaxanthin was found in popcorn shoots (1.3 mg/100 g FW). The young shoots of red cabbage had an average level of these substances, which was measured at 11.5 mg/100 FW. [PERSON] et al. [40] also reported that almost all the 25 microgreens examined, except the popcorn shoots and golden pea tendrils, can be named as the best source of \(\beta\)-carotene. As was demonstrated by [PERSON] et al. [43], the total carotenoid content was significantly lower in watercress (96.9 ug/g FW) in comparison to other _Brassica_ species, which showed similar values (from 175 to 217 ug/g FW). [PERSON] et al. [45] observed that the concentration of carotenoids varies between species, since the lowest levels were monitored in the young shoots of red basil. In contrast, the other two species (green basil and rocket) exhibited similar values. In the study of [PERSON] et al. [39], nine summer season microgreens were evaluated, and the results showed that the total phenolic content varied from 25 to 152.10 mg GAE/100 g FW. The highest phenolic content was observed in the jute and water spinach microgreens. According to the study by [PERSON] et al.