Garden cress (Lepidium sativum), a member of the Brassicaceae family, is an underutilised crop in Europe and Turkey. The dry matter content, crude protein, ascorbic acid, minerals (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, B, Cu, Na, Zn, Mn), the total phenolic content and the total antioxidant capacity of two garden cress cultivars, Izmir and Dadas, were studied. The results of mineral element analysis of both cultivars revealed that they had a high P, K, Ca, Mg and Na content. Both cultivars studied appeared to have exceptionally high levels of protein when compared with common vegetables. The mean ascorbic acid content of Dadas and Izmir cultivars were 54 and 74 mg 100 g-1 f.w., respectively. The total phenolic content of the garden cress leaves varied from 0.573 (Dadas) to 0.774 (Izmir) mg GAE · g-1 fw and from 6.332 (Dadas) to 7.401 (Izmir) mg GAE · g-1 dw. Antioxidant activities by 2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) free-radical-scavenging assays for EC50 were determined as 330.99 (Dadas) and 346.65 (Izmir) for fw, and 128.08 and 85.97 (Izmir) for dw, respectively. Based on the results of the experiment reported herein, they may serve as a potential dietary source of some mineral and natural phenolic antioxidants. Our results imply garden cress as potential source for alternative dietary supplements of minerals and natural phenolic antioxidants.
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