Iron deficiency anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal. Anaemia poses a significant global public health concern, especially the most vital demographic in our society i.e. young adult girls. There is a huge and growing demand for a more sustainable, accessible and nutritious food supply. Green leafy vegetables are packed with essential micronutrient: iron. The biochemical composition of plants is influenced by their phenological growth stage. Amaranthus (Amaranthus spinosus), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), dill (Anethum graveolens), gogu (Hibiscus cannabinus), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), radish (Raphanus sativus var. Longipinnatus) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea) were studied at microgreen, baby leaf, market harvest and mature leaves stage. With the growth of the plant, dietary fibre, total phenolic content, oxalic acid, phytic acid, tannins, minerals such as calcium, zinc and copper content increased significantly. Vitamin C and iron contentincreasedtillmarketharveststageanddecreasedasitreachedmaturestageBioaccessibilityof iron was significantly high in microgreen stage. Amaranth microgreen had the highest bioaccesibiiity of iron. Therefore beverage mix was developed based on amaranth microgreens. Optimised microgreen beverage mix had the following ingredients amaranth microgreen powder (5 g); jaggery powder (15 g); lemon powder (2 g); rock salt (0.75 g); cuminpowder(0.5 g)andpepperpowder(0.25 g)mixedin150mlofwaterand filtered to get the microgreen beverage. Bioaccessibility of iron of microgreen beverage mix was 47.78 per cent.Sensoryevaluationshowedmicrogreenbeveragewashighlyacceptedwithoverallscore
8.80. Physical and functional properties of microgreen beverage mix showed 31.27 per cent hygroscopicity, 29.46 per cent (fair) flowability and other properties were non-significant. Nutritional properties like moisture (5.62 %), protein (4.18g/100g), total dietary fibre (3.88g/100g), carbohydrate 83.12 (g/100g) and energy (354.51 Kcal). During storage study, moisture content increased significantly and sensory evaluation showed that the microgreen beverage mix could be stored for two months. For efficacystudy(45 days), 120 (18-21 years) young adult girls were tested for haemoglobin. Thirty five anaemic and non-anaemic girls were selected for the study. Among anaemic students, 77.14 per cent were underweight and most of them were from lower socio-economic background with inadequate nutrient intake and poorer dietary habits. They had lower knowledge level and attitude towards anaemia. Post-intervention, in mild anaemic participants, the mean haemoglobin level increased significantly from 11.48 g/dL to 12.35 g/dL. It increased from 9.80 g/dL to 10.90 g/dL in moderate anaemic girls. Ferritin levels also showed a significant increase in both mild anaemic (from 27.53 ng/dL to 31.67 ng/dL) and moderate anaemic (from 17.22 ng/dL to22.28 ng/dL) students. Transferrin levels decreased significantly in mildly anaemic participants (3.08 g/L to 2.64 g/L). However, the change in transferrin levels for moderately anaemic participants was not statistically significant. From the study it can be concluded that microgreens have higher bioaccesibility of iron compared to other stages of green leafy vegetable. A simple low cost strategy to alleviate iron deficiency anaemia.