Enhanced growth and nutritional properties of radish sprouts using extracts from Anabaena minutissima and Sargassum vulgare

This study investigated the seed priming effects with aqueous extracts from the cyanobacterium Anabaena minutissima (AM) and the brown seaweed Sargassum vulgare (SV) on the growth and nutritional properties of China Rose (CR), Daikon (D), and Sango Red (SR) radish varieties. AM and SV biomasses were chemically analyzed. FTIR spectra of biomasses exhibited functional groups characteristic of amides I and II of proteins in AM and functional groups associated with the pyranose ring of carbohydrates in SV. The extracts differed in total proteins, phycobiliproteins, carbohydrates, chlorophylls, carotenoids, and antioxidant activity. Seed priming with AM and SV particularly increased seed germination (2% in CR), moisture (5% in D with AM), sprout weight (35% with AM), and height (12% with SV). In the elemental analysis of sprouts, Na, Ca, and Mg levels increased variably across all varieties of both extracts. Principal component analysis revealed significant separation among treatments in SR and D varieties, confirming the effectiveness of the seed priming.