Nutrient density of vegetables in your garden
11.5 years ago broccoli, leaves, lettuce, nutrients, parsley, pumpkin, Uncategorized
Just out of curiosity I got my hands on the USDA food database and had a little fun in Excel and the results were pretty interesting. Assuming I wanted to figure out what vegetables I could grow in my garden had the highest nutrient density. I wrote a formula for each nutrient from Vitamin A to Zinc what percentage rank across all of the foods did the item have. I then summed up these percentages based on 100 calories consumed to create an overall score and grouped by average across the categories as a “Nutrient Density Score.”
The results were pretty interesting and discovered some new plants I should try consuming this year.
Top 10 most nutrient dense vegetables
| Rank | Vegetable | Score | Nutrients with significant content |
| 1 | Pumpkin leaves | 24.0 | Potassium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Leucine, Tyrosine, Threroline, Isoleucine, Phenylalanie |
| 2 | Spinach | 23.4 | Calcium, Potassium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Folate, Magnesium, Beta carotene, Tyrosine, Threroline, Isoleucine |
| 3 | Mustard Greens | 23.0 | Calcium, Potassium, Phosphorus, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Folate, Beta carotene, Tyrosine, Arginine |
| 4 | Broccoli | 23.0 | Calcium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Pantothenic acid, Folate, Aspartic acid, Glutamic acid, Valine |
| 5 | Asparagus | 22.6 | Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Niacin, Folate, Aspartic acid, Glutamic acid |
| 6 | Turnip Greens | 22.6 | Calcium, Potassium, Beta carotene, Tyrosine, Threroline, Isoleucine, Phenylalanie, Leucine, Valine |
| 7 | Pak-Choi | 22.3 | Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Vitamin C, Folate, Beta carotene, Glutamic acid, Isoleucine, Alanine |
| 8 | Swiss Chard | 21.5 | Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper, Beta carotene, Isoleucine, Phenylalanie |
| 9 | Green Leaf Lettuce | 21.5 | Phosphorus, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin A, Beta carotene, Isoleucine |
| 10 | Beet Greens | 21.4 | Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Pantothenic acid, Beta carotene |
As you can see everything in the top ten is at least the color green with most of the plants being leafy vegetables. Some honorable mentions rounding up the top 20: Chives, Kale, Zucchini, Corn salad, Okra, Cauliflower Greens, Parsley, Mushrooms, Collards, Red leaf Lettuce.
So as you know vegetables contain the most nutrients the shorter the time between they are harvested and then consumed so anywhere you can shave off a few hours of this process is to your advantage, so to benefit the most for the nutrients in your food some of the above plants are some great options.
So how about the bottom, or the top ten least nutrient dense vegetables in your garden?
Bottom 10 least nutrient dense vegetables
| Rank | Vegetable | Score |
| 1 | Indian Squash | 8.4 |
| 2 | Shiitake Mushrooms | 9.4 |
| 3 | Potatoes | 9.5 |
| 4 | Jerusalem Artichoke | 9.6 |
| 5 | Parsnips | 9.7 |
| 6 | Lemon grass | 9.7 |
| 7 | Pumpkin flowers | 10.3 |
| 8 | Arrowroot | 10.8 |
| 9 | Tomatillos | 10.9 |
| 10 | Rhubarb | 10.9 |
Now don’t get me wrong many of the plants in the above list may still have plenty of nutritional value it is just that compared to the competition they lack the shear concentration of nutrition and the diversity across the spectrum.
I know for me I am planning on trying some pumpkin leaves this year. Sounds like you just dice them up and sauté with some oil and throw in some garlic at the end and sounds like the leaves should actually be pretty sweet tasting…I will be sure to post of the success or failure of cooking pumpkin leaves.
11.5 years ago
[…] Nutrient density of vegetables in your garden […]
10.3 years ago
yes, even foods on the least nutrient dense have value and perceptions of them could change. For example jerusalem artichokes are high in inulin, which is a prebiotic that feeds beneficial bacteria in your system. Ten years from now they might be recommending everyone to have a few servings of it every week.