Cookies help us deliver the best experience on our website. By clicking Accept you are agreeing to the placement and use of cookies as described in our privacy policy.
Lindsay Springer, Gardyn’s Food Scientist, breaks down some essential nutrients, phytochemicals, and qualities in fresh produce that can degrade and cause a loss of flavor after harvest.
Since the middle of the 20th century, the way we get our produce has changed, from small farms spread across the country, to fewer, larger farms producing at mass scale.
While this has allowed us to grow individually (job choice, travel) and as a country (developing medicines, creating highways), we’ve reached the breaking point of what we can gain and are now losing. Varieties and growing practices optimized for high yields, resistance to pests and diseases, and long shelf life now come at the cost of nutrition, biodiversity, and taste.
Today, almost all commercial produce is grown with thicker, less tasty qualities so that it may be stored, shipped, and set on grocery shelves over the course of weeks (and up to 2 months). From the moment of harvest, certain nutrients begin dying, meaning by the time you get home to unload your groceries, that head of lettuce’s nutrition is drastically reduced and doesn’t even taste good to boot.
This is not to say you shouldn’t eat your vegetables; it’s more a matter of eating them in the best way possible!
With all of this in mind, Gardyn’s Plant Health and Nutrition Team set out to compare similar types of lettuce that were either grown on a Gardyn or purchased from a grocery store. We chose the freshest looking, organic lettuce that we could find including romaine, red leaf, and butter lettuce and did a “head-to-head” comparison with similar, Gardyn-grown lettuces from our plant portfolio.
Keep reading to learn more about which vitamins are impacted by harvest time.
The Gardyn difference: more nutrients than the grocery store
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is the prevailing protective antioxidant in blood and a cofactor for numerous enzyme processes in our bodies. As one of the most sensitive plant antioxidants, it can degrade quickly after harvest- especially under wilting conditions.
Even in refrigeration, cut baby leaf lettuce can lose 98% of its Vitamin C in just six days; spinach loses 19.6%. Considering that the average shelf life of leafy greens is 12-16 days– we can expect most Vitamin C to be gone by the time you pull out those leafy greens for dinner.
About 43% of adults have an inadequate intake of Vitamin C. Unlike other mammals, humans cannot synthesize Vitamin C and must obtain it from dietary sources (hence Scurvy).
Carotenoids
Carotenoids are a class of lipid-soluble healthful antioxidants that, in some cases, can also act as pro-vitamins. Carotenoid consumption is associated with lower incidents of certain cancers, heart disease, and macular degeneration.
In-plant cells, carotenoids protect chlorophyll (the green plant pigments involved in photosynthesis) from photo-oxidative damage. Once carotenoids begin to degrade, chlorophyll degradation follows. Chlorophyll can also be degraded through enzymatic processes, causing those vibrant, rich green broccoli heads to turn a limey green.
Depending on the plant type and storage conditions, chlorophyll and carotenoids can start to decline a few days after harvest. Losses of Lutein (27%), Violaxanthin (20%), Neoxanthin (31%), and B-carotene (14%) were noted after just five days of storage of harvested kale.
Flavonoids
Flavonoids are a complex class of antioxidants that contribute to a plant’s color and taste. Consuming flavonoids is associated with anti-inflammatory health benefits, including a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
Enzymes that oxidize flavonoids, such as Polyphenol Oxidase (PPO), can activate with tissue injury from harvest, reducing antioxidant potential and leading to brown and pink hues in your greens.
The amount of flavonoids and their stability after harvest is highly dependent on the variety, storage environment, and time. A study of three lettuce different lettuce varieties demonstrated total phenolic losses ranging from 12.8 – 41% after 15 days of storage, with total antioxidant losses ranging from 39.5-63.2%. Additional research has shown flavonoid losses ranging from 7-46% over a seven-day storage period in lettuces and endives.
With freshness comes taste
A lot can change from harvest to refrigerator when it comes to flavor. Harvesting fresh leafy greens generate a group of molecules known as green leaf volatiles (or lipoxygenase volatiles). Green leaf volatiles are responsible for the smell of fresh greens and have been shown to substantially decrease or completely degrade (depending on the specific compound and cultivar of interest) over the course of just three days.
In addition, when plant tissues are damaged through harvesting, processing, handling, and storage, it triggers the production of a hormone called Ethylene, creating a process known as senescence. Senescence (the process by which plant cells stop dividing but continue to age) can trigger physiological changes that make the plant more susceptible to microbial growth. Microbial growth can accelerate the decline of produce texture and impart off-flavors and aromas.
The best produce also comes with a clean burst of fresh flavor, fueled by the turgor of exploding plant cells. Think about popping a balloon full of water versus a balloon that’s only partially full. The full balloon (a.k.a plant cell with high turgor pressure) will burst more explosively than the partially filled balloon (which may not burst at all). When plant cell walls degrade, and tissues dehydrate, crunch is lost. Fresh lettuce is 95% water with a high leaf surface area water transpiration, and leaf dehydration happens quickly after harvest.
Though the processes by which nutrients and flavors degrade sounds complicated, the solution is quite simple.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR 3RD PARTY STUDY
At Gardyn we recommend you harvest when you’re ready to eat for full nutritional benefit and the very best flavor. It’s what fueled our CEO and founder, FX Rouxel, to create Gardyn, and it’s why our mission is to provide access to fresh, nutritious produce grown locally—all while in your own home.
Meet our plant portfolio
Arugula
Banana Peppers
Basil
Bi-Color Sunflower
Blush Hibiscus
Bok Choy
Borage
Breen
Bronze Arrow
Bull’s Blood
Bunching Onions
Burrito Pepper
Buttercrunch
Butterhead
Canna Flower
Cape Gooseberry
Cardinale
Catnip
Celery
Chamomile
Cherry Tomato
Chervil
Chives
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Cucumbers
Dill
Dragon Beans
Endive
Fairytale Eggplant
Fiesta Gitana
Flashy Trout Back
Fuchsia Snapdragon
Garlic Chives
Goliath Pepper
Green Beans
Green Cabbage
Green Mustard
Green Salanova
Green Tatsoi
Holy Basil
Hon Tsai Tai
Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper
Iceberg
Italian Parsley
Jalapenos
Kale
Kale Lacinato
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Lemon Hot Pepper
Lemongrass
Lime Basil
Lollo Rossa
Matilda
Mini Cauliflower
Mini Eggplant
Mini Okra
Mini Pumpkin
Mini Squash
Mint
Monte Carlo
Muir Lettuce
Nasturtium
Oregano
Peas
Perpetual Spinach
Pink Celery
Pink Petunia
Pink Swiss Chard
Poblano Pepper
Purple Basil
Purple Beans
Purple Bok Choy
Purple Campanula
Purple Kohlrabi
Purple Snapdragon
Purslane
Radicchio
Radio Calendula
Red Amaranth
Red Hibiscus
Red Impatiens
Red Marietta Marigold
Red Mini Strawberry
Red Mustard
Red Oak Leaf Lettuce
Red Romaine
Red Sails
Red Salad Bowl
Red Sorrel
Red Swiss Chard
Red Tatsoi
Romaine
Rosemary
Rouge d’Hiver
Sage
Savory
Scarlet Snapdragon
Stevia
Stock Flower
Strawberries
Sunflower
Sweet Marjoram
Sweet Peppers
Sweet Thai Basil
Tarragon
Thai Eggplant
Thyme
Tokyo Bekana
Torenia
Viola
Wasabi Greens
Watercress
Wheatgrass
White Kohlrabi
White Petunia
Yellow Beans
Yellow Cherry Tomato
Yellow Mini Strawberry
Yellow Snapdragon
Yellow Swiss Chard
Zinnia
<h2 data-start=“1257” data-end=“1311″ id=“lunch-box-recipes”>