Kohlrabi Microgreens: Taste, Nutrition & How to Use Them

Kohlrabi is an odd vegetable, botanically speaking. Broccoli is grown for its flower buds and kale for its leaves, but the part of mature kohlrabi everyone recognises, that pale, round bulb, is neither a root nor a fruit. It's a swollen stem sitting above ground, one of the few common vegetables where the edible part is stem tissue rather than root, leaf or seed.

Kohlrabi's Brassica chemistry also has a detail worth getting right. Peer-reviewed metabolic profiling of kohlrabi has found eight distinct glucosinolates (full study here), and the single most abundant overall is glucoerucin, an aliphatic (sulphur-containing, non-indole) glucosinolate, not an indolyl one as many sources assume. Among the indolyl glucosinolates specifically, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin and neoglucobrassicin dominate, with glucobrassicin present at lower levels. The significance of glucobrassicin specifically is that it yields indole-3-carbinol (I3C) on myrosinase hydrolysis, a compound with an active research literature of its own. The full glucosinolate picture in kohlrabi is more layered than a simple "same as broccoli" framing.

Kohlrabi sits in the Brassica family, alongside Mustard, Broccoli and Kale. This guide covers what kohlrabi microgreens actually are, what's genuinely in them, and how they fit into a meal. For the basics on what separates a microgreen from a sprout or a baby green in the first place, start with What Are Microgreens? A Complete Guide to Nature's Smallest, Most Concentrated Greens, our reference page for everything else on this blog.

What Is a Kohlrabi Microgreen?

Kohlrabi microgreens come from Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes, the same species as broccoli and kale, just bred for that distinctive swollen stem at maturity. At the microgreen stage, well before any bulb forms, it's simply the young leafy shoot that matters, with a mild, slightly sweet, cabbage-like crunch, gentler than broccoli.

Grown to microgreen size, kohlrabi is typically ready in eight to ten days.

Nutrient Profile

A peer-reviewed study specifically examining ten-day-old kohlrabi sprouts, close in age to a harvested microgreen, identified eight distinct glucosinolates, thirteen phenylpropanoid compounds and five carotenoids, and found that growing light conditions genuinely changed the levels: blue light maximised phenylpropanoid and glucosinolate content, while white light maximised carotenoids (full study here). That's a useful, sprout-stage-specific result rather than data borrowed from the mature bulb.

On vitamin C: a 2019 peer-reviewed study (Samuoliene et al., Frontiers in Plant Science, full study here) measured ascorbic acid in ten-day kohlrabi microgreens at 35.0 mg per gram dry weight under blue-red light, rising to 54.3 mg per gram dry weight under supplemental yellow light. These are dry-weight figures and cannot be compared directly to fresh-weight values -- the fresh-weight equivalent is considerably lower. The one available fresh-weight anchor for kohlrabi microgreens comes from Xiao et al. 2016, which measured iron at 0.75 mg per 100 g fresh weight for purple kohlrabi microgreens.

From the same Samuoliene et al. 2019 study, calcium ranged from 18.8 to 29.9 mg per gram dry weight and magnesium from 5.04 to 7.65 mg per gram dry weight depending on light spectrum -- a reminder that growing conditions measurably shift the mineral profile, not just the glucosinolate and phenylpropanoid content.

Vitamin C, calcium and magnesium figures above are on a dry-weight basis (Samuoliene et al., 2019) and cannot be directly compared to fresh-weight USDA values. Iron (0.75 mg/100g FW) is the one available fresh-weight figure.

None of this amounts to a claim that kohlrabi microgreens treat, prevent or manage any named health condition. They're a nutrient-dense addition to a meal, best eaten as part of a varied diet.

Role in the Body

Kohlrabi's glucosinolates are a mix dominated by the aliphatic glucoerucin and, among indolyl types, by 4-methoxyglucobrassicin and neoglucobrassicin. The glucobrassicin fraction, when broken down by myrosinase on chewing or chopping, yields indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a compound with an active research literature as a Brassica bioactive. We go through this broader family of Brassica compounds, including how kohlrabi's specific mix compares to mustard, broccoli and turnip, in Sulforaphane & Brassica Compounds: Role in the Body, Sources & Which Microgreens Have It, our dedicated nutrient deep-dive.

How to Use Kohlrabi Microgreens

Kohlrabi's mild, cabbage-like crunch holds up well in warm, spiced dishes without overwhelming them, gentler on the palate than mustard or broccoli.

A Quick Growing Note

AgriZen grows every variety the same way, indoors under LED light, watered with RO-purified water, from certified organic seed. We cover that full process, and what the organic-seed certification does and doesn't cover, in How Microgreens Are Grown: From Seed to Harvest.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do kohlrabi microgreens taste like?

Mild, slightly sweet and cabbage-like, gentler than broccoli, with a crisp crunch.

Why is kohlrabi's edible part unusual compared to other vegetables?

Mature kohlrabi is grown for its bulb, which is actually a swollen stem sitting above ground, not a root like a carrot or a leaf like kale. It's one of the few common vegetables where the edible part is stem tissue.

What is the main glucosinolate in kohlrabi?

Glucoerucin -- an aliphatic glucosinolate -- is the single most abundant glucosinolate overall in kohlrabi. Among the indolyl class, 4-methoxyglucobrassicin and neoglucobrassicin dominate, with glucobrassicin (the precursor to indole-3-carbinol) present at lower levels.

Does kohlrabi contain sulforaphane like broccoli?

Only partially. Kohlrabi does carry glucoraphanin (the sulforaphane precursor), but it's a minor component rather than the dominant glucosinolate. The glucoerucin it carries converts to erucin, a distinct isothiocyanate, not sulforaphane.

Which other AgriZen microgreens pair well with kohlrabi?

Within the Brassica family, Mustard, Broccoli and Kale share a similar growing profile, with kohlrabi sitting toward the milder end alongside kale.

How long do kohlrabi microgreens keep after delivery?

Like any fresh, ready-to-eat leafy product, they're best eaten within a few days of delivery and should be kept refrigerated in the meantime. For the full storage guidance, see How to Store Microgreens at Home to Make Them Last Longer.

A Small, Understated Addition

Kohlrabi is a good closing example of how much nuance sits inside the same Brassica family -- a vegetable whose most abundant glucosinolate is one most people haven't heard of, and whose indolyl fraction yields a different interesting compound entirely. Grown indoors under LED light on AgriZen's shelving, watered with RO-purified water, and cut fresh to order, kohlrabi's mild crunch is an easy, understated addition to the menu.