Since scientists began to track nutrient content in fresh fruits and vegetables, they have noticed a disturbing trend: nutrients tend to be declining. Mustard greens are no exception. Compared to 1950, mustard greens in 1999 had 60% less calcium, 57% less iron, 54% less riboflavin, 42% less vitamin C, and 4% less phosphorus, though these results specific to mustard greens are not statistically different from zero. There is, however, definitely a trend toward decline in nutritional value. Learn more about the trend and what you can do in your own household here.
Nutrient Change for Mustard Greens
In the table presented below we present the nutrient content of mustard greens from 1950 and 1999. The 1950 measures for mustard greens are adjusted for water content so that the 1999 and 1950 values have comparable levels of dry matter. These nutrient measures are based on just a few data points and not one of the apparent differences are statistically different, even so, as a group, they suggest that nutrition has declined in smaller garden produce.
Nutrient Change In Mustard Greens
| Nutrient | ||
| Calories | ||
| Protein | ||
| Fat | ||
| Carbohydrates | ||
| Ash | ||
| Calcium | ||
| Phosphorus | ||
| Iron | ||
| Vitamin A | ||
| Thiamin | ||
| Riboflavin | ||
| Niacin | ||
| Vitamin C |
|
*The 1950 data is adjusted for water content. |
Creative Commons License
The graphs used to display changes in nutritional content of garden crops here are Traditional Foods, including change in mustard greens, can be redistributed for noncommercial use with a link to this specific page or to the our page that presents the data project : nutrient decline in garden crops.
Nutrient Data Source
The historical data on the nutrient content of garden crops has been collected and made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was also examined by Davis, Epp, and Riordan whose research we describe on this site. We adjusted the 1950 mustard greens nutritional content so that the water content of the 1950 and 1999 samples would be comparable, as did Davis, Epp, and Riordan.
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