Growing public concerns about health haves prompted the search for novel food sources. The study is focused on the seeds, sprouted seeds and microgreens of Trifolium pratense, T. medium, Medicago sativa, M. lupulina, Onobrychis viciifolia, Astragalus glycyphyllos and A. cicer species as a potential source of value-added food ingredientsr. The samples were analysed for nutritional (wet chemistry, standard methods) and mineral (atomic absorption spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectrophotometry) profiles, isoflavones (ultra-performance liquid with diode array detector –UPLC-DAD), coumestrol (UPLC-DAD), condensed tannins (CT) (vanillin-H₂SO₄ assay) and triterpene saponins (UPLC with triple-stage quadrupole MS). In our study, each species displayed high, but species-dependent nutritional, mineral and phytochemical value. All counterparts of legumes were mineral and protein rich. A. glycyphyllos samples, especially seeds, were abundant in iron. Trifolium spp. were found to be important sources of isoflavones, Medicago spp. of coumestrol and saponins, and O. viciifolia of CT. The protein and phytochemical contents increased and total carbohydrates decreased from seeds to microgreens.Our findings proved for the first time that seeds, sprouted seeds, and especially microgreens of small-seeded legumes are promising new sources of ingredients for fortification of staple foods with bioactive compounds, minerals and nutrients.

A deeper understanding of the phytochemical composition of perennial legumes is important for animal nutrition as well as for the development of pharmaceuticals. The present study is an assessment of perennial legumes including clovers (Trifolium pratense L. and T. medium L.), medics (Medicago sativa L. and M. lupulina L.), sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) and milkvetches (Astragalus glycyphyllos L. and A. cicer L.) as potential sources of bioactive compounds. Whole aerial parts of plants at stem elongation and full-flowering stages as well as morphological parts of fully flowering plants (leaves, stems and flowers) were analysed for four isoflavones (biochanin A, daidzein, formononetin, and genistein), coumestrol, condensed tannins and triterpene saponins. According to total concentration of the four isoflavones in plants, the species were ranked as follows: T. medium (23.2–28.7 mg g–1 DM) > T. pratense > A. glycyphyllos = A. cicer = O. viciifolia = M. sativa = M. lupulina (0.054–0.212 mg g–1 DM). Young plants were 1.2–5.6-fold richer in isoflavones than fully flowering plants. Quantifiable concentrations of coumestrol and saponins were found in the Medicago species and tannins in O. viciifolia. In general, leaves contained the highest concentrations of the phytochemicals. These findings suggest considerable potential to improve legume-based forage quality through appropriate exploitation of species- or cultivar-specific phytochemicals and manipulation of the content of phytochemicals by management of production including growth stage at harvest and selection of plant species.