Urban, indoor or vertical farming has great future potential for production of herbs, including microgreens. Basil is an essential herb in culinary applications and has become a popular microgreen option. Microgreens offer a more efficient way to produce biomass over production of mature plants. However, our initial studies on basil microgreens indicated that they lacked flavor intensity compared to mature basil. This study was conducted to better understand the impact of growth stage on basil flavor.  Nine cultivars, including two specifically designated for microgreens production, were grown under controlled conditions (green house) and harvested at four stages of growth (microgreens, intermediate, mature and blooming).  Contents of selected volatile compounds (eucalyptol, linalool, methyl chavicol, citral, methyl eugenol and eugenol) were determined by direct solvent extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.  Results showed that the potent basil odorant eugenol was present at only trace levels in microgreens while methyl eugenol was the most abundant volatile constituent.  On the contrary, eugenol accumulated during maturation of the plants along with a corresponding decline in methyl eugenol.  This explains the much weaker flavor intensity of the microgreens compared to the mature basil.  The potential for metabolic modulation to increase eugenol in microgreens to improve flavor quality will be discussed.

Changes in selected odorants in basil during growth and development

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