2023-03-162023-03-162022Kathi, S., Laza, H., Singh, S. et al. Increasing vitamin C through agronomic biofortification of arugula microgreens. Sci Rep 12, 13093 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17030-4https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17030-4https://hdl.handle.net/2346/91859Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Vitamin C (Vit C) is an essential micronutrient and antioxidant for human health. Unfortunately, Vit C cannot be produced in humans and is ingested through diet while severe deficiencies can lead to scurvy. However, consumption is often inconsistent, and foods vary in Vit C concentrations. Biofortification, the practice of increasing micronutrient or mineral concentrations, can improve the nutritional quality of crops and allow for more consistent dietary levels of these nutrients. Of the three leading biofortification practices (i.e., conventional, transgenic, and agronomical), the least explored approach to increase Vit C in microgreens is agronomically, especially through the supplemental application of ascorbic acid. In this study, biofortification of Vit C in microgreens through supplemental ascorbic acid was attempted and proven achievable. Arugula (Eruca sativa 'Astro') microgreens were irrigated with four concentrations of ascorbic acid and a control. Total Vit C (T-AsA) and ascorbic acid increased in microgreens as supplementary concentrations increased. In conclusion, biofortification of Vit C in microgreens through supplemental ascorbic acid is achievable, and consumption of these bio-fortified microgreens could help fulfill the daily Vit C requirements for humans, thereby reducing the need for supplemental vitamins.enghuman healthVitamin CmicronutrientscurvybiofortificationscurvyT-AsAArticle