Harnessing the Potential of Low-Temperature Plasma for Sustainable and Nutritionally Enhanced Microgreen Production

Microgreens are known for their dense nutritional content and quick growth cycles, and represent a promising avenue for sustainable food production. However, conventional cultivation practices face challenges related to the risk of contamination, high production costs, short shelf life, and postharvest quality. The food system of consuming fresh produce directly from the field can be achieved by adopting advanced strategies to grow them in urban setups with a minimum input and maximum output approach. To improve the growth and development of plant species, sprouts, and microgreens, the cold plasma (CP) is being advocated. Similar to CP, the plasma-activated water (PAW) offers a green perspective and exhibits a broad-spectrum biological activity with enhanced safety. This review systematically evaluates the current state of CP applications in microgreens and elaborates on their potential contribution to achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals (UN-SDGs). Findings covered in this review include the multifaceted impact of CP on seed germination, yield, nutritional fortification, and microbial safety of diverse microgreen species and conclude up to a 4.6-fold increase in germination, 39-56% higher biomass accumulation, a two-fold increase in isothiocyanate (ITC) content, besides up to 59% greater antioxidant activity across various microgreens. In the future, the applications of precise nutrient delivery, customizable hydrogels as well as other microbial-free growth media, and the industry transformation via IoT-enabled microgreen production environments will be promising in achieving desired yield efficiency, resource sustainability, and data-driven quality control.