S1 · Deep dive 02 · Citation-led evidence review
Sunflower microgreens are included in Only Plants because they offer a broad young-plant nutritional matrix rather than one isolated “active ingredient.” Published studies have measured protein, fibre, vitamin C, minerals, chlorophylls, lutein, phenolic compounds and flavonoids in sunflower microgreens or their dried powder. Ghoora et al., 2020 Di Gioia et al., 2023 Mansouri et al., 2024
The precise composition depends on cultivar, cultivation conditions, developmental stage, processing and analytical method. The actual Only Plants powder must therefore be analysed before published values can be attributed to the product.
Food-composition evidence · not a clinical health claimDefined evidence set. Thirteen supplied files were audited. Nine unique sources were eligible for sunflower-microgreen evidence: six primary studies and three supporting reviews. One exact duplicate and three materially different or non-primary sources were kept visible in the audit but excluded from sunflower-microgreen claims. Last reviewed: 1 August 2026.
Why sunflower is in Only Plants
Sunflower microgreens have a clear and independent reason to be part of Only Plants.
A study of dried sunflower-microgreen powder reported 38.4% protein, 14.27% fat and 8.1% crude fibre. The powder was successfully incorporated into gluten-free cakes, demonstrating that sunflower microgreens can be dried, milled and used as a whole-food ingredient. Mansouri et al., 2024
Other studies measured vitamin C, calcium, potassium, zinc, copper, chlorophylls, lutein, phenolic compounds and flavonoids in fresh or processed sunflower microgreens. Ghoora et al., 2020 Di Gioia et al., 2023 Balik et al., 2025
In simple terms: sunflower was selected to bring broad young-plant nutrition into the formulation. It is not a carrier, filler or secondary version of radish.
The short answer
Their value begins with nutritional diversity, practical whole-food use and the opportunity to define a consistent ingredient—not with a borrowed medical promise.
Sunflower microgreens contain multiple categories of naturally occurring plant material, including protein, minerals, pigments, vitamin C and phenolic compounds. Ghoora et al., 2020 Di Gioia et al., 2023 Mansouri et al., 2024
One food-formulation study used dried sunflower-microgreen powder at different inclusion levels and documented nutritional, technological and sensory changes. Mansouri et al., 2024
Light, cultivation, seed treatment and harvest timing can influence growth and composition. This creates an opportunity to define and standardise the ingredient. Gupta et al., 2024 Chew & Subramaniam, 2024
What sunflower microgreens naturally contain
Published values describe specific study materials and methods. They demonstrate nutritional potential, but they are not specifications for the Only Plants powder.
Cabinet-dried sunflower-microgreen powder contained 38.4% protein and 8.1% crude fibre in one study. Mansouri et al., 2024
Ghoora and colleagues reported 94.0 mg per 100 g fresh weight; Balik and colleagues reported 67.55 mg under different conditions. Ghoora et al., 2020 Balik et al., 2025
Calcium, potassium, zinc, copper and other minerals were measured, but amounts differed considerably between cultivation systems. Di Gioia et al., 2023 Balik et al., 2025
Sunflower microgreens contained chlorophylls and lutein in a ten-species comparison. Ghoora et al., 2020
Multiple studies measured these compounds, and extracts showed activity in laboratory antioxidant assays. Those assays do not establish an antioxidant effect inside the human body. Ghoora et al., 2020 Balik et al., 2025 Chakraborty et al., 2025
Why the microgreen stage matters
A sunflower microgreen is a young, actively developing plant. At this stage it has formed shoots and leaves and contains plant components associated with early growth and photosynthesis.
The studies did not all examine identical developmental material. Sunflower was harvested seven days after germination, ten days after sowing, after 14 days, or when the first true leaves appeared. Gupta et al., 2024 Di Gioia et al., 2023 Chakraborty et al., 2025 Ghoora et al., 2020
The correct question is not simply “Is this sunflower?” It is “Which sunflower, grown how, and harvested at which stage?”
The central scientific lesson
Values from one published experiment cannot automatically be applied to another product. Cultivar, seed source, substrate, light, nutrients, harvest age, sample preparation and analytical method can influence the result. Chew & Subramaniam, 2024 Kainikkara et al., 2025
Two studies reported different vitamin C values: 94.0 and 67.55 mg per 100 g fresh weight. The plants were produced and analysed under different experimental conditions. Ghoora et al., 2020 Balik et al., 2025
Balik and colleagues reported 148.63 mg calcium and 273.47 mg potassium per 100 g fresh weight. Di Gioia and colleagues reported 41.76 mg calcium and 101.31 mg potassium in ‘Black oil’ sunflower grown in a different system. Balik et al., 2025 Di Gioia et al., 2023
Correct conclusion: neither published result is automatically the Only Plants result.
Cultivar, seed lot, environment, substrate and harvest stage.
Establish the starting composition of the edible material.
Determine what remains after drying and milling.
Characterise the actual formulation and its stability.
Only then investigate what may become bioaccessible.
Light, harvest and processing
A sunflower-specific review found that light spectrum, light intensity, photoperiod, pretreatment and harvest timing can influence growth, yield and composition. It also identified gaps in direct sunflower-specific lighting research. Chew & Subramaniam, 2024
Processing introduces another layer. Mansouri and colleagues dried sunflower microgreens at 50 °C, milled them to 500 μm and used the resulting powder in food. A different drying method may produce a different final composition. Mansouri et al., 2024
For Only Plants, cultivation, harvest stage, drying, milling and storage are part of the scientific definition of the ingredient—not merely production details.
The six primary studies
Each card identifies the tested material, the observation and the boundary that prevents over-transfer to Only Plants.
Studied: ten culinary microgreens grown in vermicompost-enriched soil and harvested when the first true leaves appeared.
Observed: sunflower contained measurable ascorbic acid, lutein, chlorophylls, phenolics and flavonoids. Laboratory extracts demonstrated activity in four cell-free antioxidant assays.
Boundary: extract-based laboratory antioxidant results do not demonstrate an antioxidant effect in people.
Read the paper · DOI 10.1016/j.jafr.2020.100046 ↗Studied: seventeen species grown under the same controlled greenhouse conditions; ‘Black oil’ sunflower was harvested ten days after sowing.
Observed: sunflower had the highest shoot fresh weight and dry-matter concentration and the lowest nitrate concentration in the comparison. The authors classified it as a good source of zinc and copper.
Boundary: one cultivar and one cultivation system, using fresh tissue—not dried Only Plants powder.
Read the paper · DOI 10.3389/fpls.2023.1220691 ↗Studied: sunflower microgreens dried at 50 °C, milled and used at 4%, 8% and 12% flour replacement in gluten-free cakes.
Observed: the powder contained 38.4% protein and 8.1% crude fibre. Its inclusion changed several nutritional, technological and sensory measures.
Boundary: a food-formulation experiment—not a capsule, digestion or clinical study.
Read the paper · DOI 10.1016/j.lwt.2024.116049 ↗Studied: sunflower seeds primed with different concentrations of ferric-oxide nanoparticles and grown for seven days.
Observed: the treatments altered biomass, photosynthetic measures, phenolic content, antioxidant-enzyme activity and several mineral concentrations.
Boundary: these were experimentally nano-primed plants and are not equivalent to conventionally cultivated sunflower microgreens.
Read the paper · DOI 10.17221/272/2024-PSE ↗Studied: six microgreen species grown in a peat-based medium and harvested after the first true leaves developed.
Observed: sunflower was analysed for vitamin C, minerals, sugars, organic acids, phenolics, flavonoids, nitrate and volatile compounds.
Boundary: some narrative statements conflict with the published tables. Numerical claims on this page use the table values and omit the disputed labels.
Read the paper · DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-85860-z ↗Studied: fourteen-day sunflower microgreens that were shade-dried and extracted with methanol.
Observed: the sunflower extract had the highest total flavonoid, phenolic and tannin measurements in a nine-species comparison and the lowest reported DPPH IC50.
Boundary: this was a concentrated methanolic extract tested in chemical and enzyme assays—not whole powder, digestion evidence or a human study.
Read the paper · DOI 10.56042/ijnpr.v16i4.18526 ↗What the research collectively tells us
The evidence supports sunflower as a measurable food material and dried powder ingredient. It does not establish a specific health effect in a person.
Protein, fibre, vitamin C, minerals, pigments and phenolic compounds have been measured in defined sunflower samples. Ghoora et al., 2020 Di Gioia et al., 2023 Mansouri et al., 2024
Cultivation, treatment, harvest, fresh-versus-dry basis, extraction and analytical methods affect what is measured. Gupta et al., 2024 Chew & Subramaniam, 2024 Kainikkara et al., 2025
Sunflower microgreens can be dried, milled and incorporated into another food. Mansouri et al., 2024
No eligible study analysed the specific cultivar, cultivation system, drying process, formulation, bottle stability, digestion or effects in people.
The literature supports sunflower as an ingredient worth selecting. Product-specific evidence must come from testing the actual product.
What this means for an Only Plants user
Product-specific statements describe the Only Plants format; scientific statements remain linked to the literature that supports them.
Only Plants uses dried and milled sunflower-microgreen material rather than a selectively concentrated sunflower extract.
Sunflower contributes a combination of protein, minerals, pigments and phytochemical material. Ghoora et al., 2020 Di Gioia et al., 2023 Mansouri et al., 2024
Research supports the feasibility of using sunflower microgreens as dried and milled food material. Mansouri et al., 2024
Composition data, extract assays and cake results are not proof of what the Only Plants capsule does inside a person.
Sunflower microgreens are valuable because they bring broad young-plant nutrition into a convenient whole-food format—not because they have been clinically proven to prevent or treat disease.
Sunflower within the Only Plants formulation
Within Only Plants, sunflower is not present simply to accompany radish. Sunflower contributes a broad young-plant nutritional matrix. Radish contributes specialised cruciferous phytochemistry, particularly its glucosinolate system. The two ingredients therefore have scientifically distinct and potentially complementary roles.
The published evidence supports the rationale for selecting each plant independently. However, no study has established that the combined radish–sunflower formulation produces an enhanced biological effect.
Evidence-informed nutritional complementarity—not proven biological synergy.
From published research to product knowledge
A later comparative experiment could investigate whether the combined formulation behaves differently from sunflower or radish alone.
Document cultivar, seed lot, cultivation conditions, harvest age and included plant parts.
Measure proximate composition, selected minerals and relevant phytochemical markers in defined production batches.
Compare fresh material with the powder after drying, milling, blending and realistic bottle storage.
Use a standardised digestion model before discussing release, transformation, bioaccessibility or possible absorption.
Scientific and regulatory boundary
The eligible evidence establishes measurable composition in selected sunflower microgreens, laboratory chemical activity of selected extracts, effects of cultivation and treatment on plant material, and technological use of one dried powder in another food.
It does not establish clinical efficacy, bioavailability in people, prevention or treatment of disease, a health effect of the Only Plants finished formulation, or biological synergy between sunflower and radish.
Only Plants is food, not medicine. Any public nutrition or health wording requires separate assessment under the EU nutrition and health claims framework.
Evidence register
Six primary experiments support direct observations. Three reviews organise context without upgrading secondary claims into product evidence.
| Study | Evidence role | What it supports here | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghoora et al. (2020) | Primary; fresh comparative study | Vitamin C, pigments, phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant assays | DOI ↗ |
| Di Gioia et al. (2023) | Primary; fresh comparative study | Defined growth stage, yield, minerals and nitrate | DOI ↗ |
| Mansouri et al. (2024) | Primary; dried-powder food study | Powder composition and food-formulation behaviour | DOI ↗ |
| Gupta et al. (2024) | Primary; experimental nano-priming | Production intervention can alter physiology and composition | DOI ↗ |
| Chew & Subramaniam (2024) | Secondary sunflower-specific review | LED, cultivation and harvest context | DOI ↗ |
| Tallei et al. (2024) | Secondary antioxidant review | Variability and research-gap context only | DOI ↗ |
| Balik et al. (2025) | Primary; fresh comparative study | Vitamin C, phenolics, DPPH, minerals, nitrate and organic acids | DOI ↗ |
| Kainikkara et al. (2025) | Secondary comprehensive review | Development and processing context; evidence gaps | DOI ↗ |
| Chakraborty et al. (2025) | Primary; dried methanolic extract | Phenolics, flavonoids and cell-free DPPH assay | DOI ↗ |
References used on this page
Transparent exclusions. Polyiam and Thukhammee tested a sunflower-sprout protein isolate, not sunflower microgreens or whole powder. Chaisit et al. tested five-day sunflower sprouts extracted with 80% ethanol and administered to rats, not sunflower microgreens or the Only Plants formulation. Verma and Singh is a general microgreens e-magazine article without a DOI or original experimental evidence. The second Balik PDF is byte-identical to the first and is counted only once. Where Balik et al. contains a conflict between prose and published tables, this page follows the table values and omits disputed narrative labels.