Sprouts are the freshest food possible. Produce from the stores may look fresh, but what does the science say?

* Green beans refrigerated after harvest lost more than 90% ascorbic acid following 16 days of refrigeration; broccoli lost about 50% of both ascorbic acid and beta-carotene
following 5 days of storage. (Howard LA, Wong AD, Perry AK, et al. B-carotene and ascorbic acid retention in fresh and processed vegetables. J Food Sci. 1999;64(5):929-936)
* Following cold storage for 8 days in the light, spinach lost 22% lutein; in 8 days of dark cold, spinach lost 18% beta- carotene (Kopas-Lane LM, Warthesen JJ. Carotenoid photostability in raw spinach and carrots during cold storage. J Food Sci. 1995;60(4):773-776)
* Storage of whole heads of lettuce or endive in the cold dark for 7 days resulted in total flavanol glycoside losses from 7-46% (DuPont MS, Mondin Z, Williamson G, et al. Effect of variety, processing, and storage on the flavonoid glycoside content and composition of lettuce and endive. J Agric Food Chem. 2000;48(9):3957-3964).