Comparative analysis of hydroponically cultivated barley sprouts yield, polyphenol and mineral content by nutrient solution treatment

Abstract

Barley ( Hordeum vulgare cv. Hangmaeg) sprouts are important microgreens that contain high levels of polyphenols and flavonoids, as well as minerals, vitamin and chlorophyll. Barley sprouts were grown for 9 days and growth was checked every 3 days. In this study, the cultivation efficiency according to the nutrient solution treatment was evaluated by analyzing the length of barley sprouts, fresh weight, chlorophyll, and the yield by growth period. In addition, we tried to increase the industrial applicability of germinated barley through analysis of inorganic component, total polyphenol and total flavonoid content of the extract, and functional substance analysis using HPLC. As a result, the growth rate of the nutrient solution treatment group was faster than that of the control group. When harvested on the 9th day of sowing, the nutrient solution treatment group showed a significant increase in yield compared to the control group. And the barley sprout extract of the nutrient solution treatment group had higher total flavonoid content and luteolin content. Also, the efficiency of water was higher than that of ethanol when extracting phenolics from barley sprouts. Therefore, this study suggests that nutrient input is effective for increasing polyphenol content and increasing production in barley sprout hydroponics.