Wheatgrass contains high levels of enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and proteins.
Therefore, it is popular among households for its health benefits.
Once you have cut wheatgrass, there are several ways to absorb it; you can eat it fresh, extract it into juice with a wheatgrass juicer, or place it dried in an oven, then consume it ground into powder with a coffee grinder.
As wheatgrass has a short property life, we want to keep it for later usage but leaving it fresh is the best way for your health.
While nutrients are lost in the stored wheatgrass, the remaining nutrients in the stored wheatgrass will work when being ingested.
Thus, before storing it, all wheatgrass forms should be placed in a sealed container to keep it fresh and flavorful.
But the storage conditions will depend largely on the type of wheatgrass you are keeping.
How to Consume and Store Wheatgrass after Harvesting?
| What To Do With Wheatgrass? | Raw Wheatgrass | Wheatgrass Juice | Wheatgrass Powder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumption | It is consumed whole by chopping its stalks. | Extract juice from the wheatgrass. | Mix it with smoothies, soups, or salads. |
| Storage | – Place dry wheatgrass stalks on a tray while spacing them evenly. – Keep in a freezer bag or an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for up to 7 or 8 days. | – In a securely sealed container, chill for an hour or less. – You may also keep it fresh for six months by freezing extra wheatgrass in ice cube trays. | – Place freshly produced wheatgrass powder in an airtight storage container or Ziploc bag and store it in your pantry or a dry place at room temperature. |
Raw Wheatgrass
Wheatgrass can be used as a dietary supplement due to its include minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and proteins.
Sprout wheatgrass is mostly consumed whole in light of its nutritional and health benefits, simply by slicing its stalks with a sharp knife and adding small fragments to food, drinks or salad.
Just be sure to not eat it until you have washed it, it must be clean and free of mold.
Do not rinse sliced wheatgrass, instead use clean cloth and wipe it off to remove any dirt. If the wheatgrass is wet when harvested, gently pat it dry with a clean paper towel.
Do not eat moldy wheatgrass until you have taken care of the mold. As mold will not penetrate the stork but rather on the outside of the stalk then you can wash it carefully before using it raw.
Another option is to cut above the mold and wash it off residue.
The flavor depletes readily, and wheatgrass does not have a long shelf life, and as a result needs to be stored:
- Place the wheatgrass stalks on a tray in a single layer, with space between each stalk. Make sure they are completely dry – if they are wet, the texture will be impacted after freezing.
- To freeze them firm, place them in the freezer for an hour.
- After the hour, transfer the stalks into a freezer bag or airtight container, and place back in the freezer. It can be a zippered plastic bag, or a plastic food container for freezing.
Freshly harvested refrigerated raw wheatgrass, will stay fresh for about 7 or 8 days.
Like almost all fresh harvested foods, storing it longer than that period of time can cause it to degenerate, change, and lose some of its nutritional quality.
Note: To avoid waste, make sure you only thaw what you need for that particular meal, and do not eat wheatgrass that turned yellow.
Wheatgrass Juice
You can also consume wheatgrass straight out of the ground, juicing your fresh batch right after you harvest it.
But before you create a juice from your wheatgrass, you may want to make sure it is clean, dry, and mold free. This is usually the most common way people consume the wheatgrass.
To extract the juice from the wheatgrass, simply cut it at the base of the blade and put it in a wheatgrass juicer. You can also use a hand cranked metal juicer.
But an electric juicer will work just as well!
Since the young shoots are so thin, fairly small amounts of wheatgrass juice can be extracted at one time.
Once you have extracted your juice, it is best to consume wheatgrass juice mostly as you have freshly extracted, or at the least within a few hours of preparing it, for your best health benefits.
If you are growing your own wheatgrass, please try and only pick what you plan to consume at once, because wheatgrass, if held too long can sour or deteriorate.
Fresh wheatgrass juice is earthy and has a richly concentrated flavor, but it is raw with a little pungent too.
It is a little bit bitter too, consequently you can add sweet tasting fruits to make it more pleasant drink. You can also mix it with fruits and blend to make a smoothie.
Alternatively, you can save the excess wheatgrass juice you end up with, instead of throwing it away. In a sealed container, simply refrigerate it for an hour or less. It will spoil fast, and change the flavor of your juice, and will also benefit you less.
You can alternatively freeze the extra wheatgrass in ice cube trays to save it for a longer time and keep healthy frozen for up to 6 months at a constant frozen temp.
This retains nearly all the nutrients, enzymes, and chlorophyll enzymes lost.
To keep the frozen wheatgrass juice from acquiring potentially unwanted flavors from your freezer, store them in an airtight plastic container.
What we recommend – is when you are ready to consume the frozen juice from the cubes, thaw them out, but don’t thaw them out overnight else they can sour. Only thaw out what you plan to consume.
You can thaw the juice by placing it in a glass and pour hot water over the bundled ice of cubes so it can thaw naturally and drink at your leisure.
Wheatgrass Powder
Wheatgrass powder is better than wheatgrass juice because juicing takes away the fibers.
It is also easy to use as making wheatgrass powders is a simple process. Wheatgrass powders can be made by freeze-drying or dehydrating.
Freeze-drying is more common in manufacturing and packing operations because it usually requires specialized equipment and is impractical for small-scale operations.
Studies show that dehydrating wheatgrass powder works best using microwave drying at 800W, vacuum oven drying at 122 0F, and hot air oven drying, at 140 0F.
After the wheatgrass is harvested,
- Pour it uniformly in a single layer on a plate and put in the microwave or on a baking sheet and bake in the oven.
- After 10 minutes or 2 hours the wheatgrass leaves will be dry and brittle. Remove from the oven and put in a coffee grinder. Grind the dried wheatgrass into a fine powder.
- Place your freshly made wheatgrass powder in an airtight storage container or Ziploc bag, and store it in your pantry or a location that is dry and room temperature.
If not stored properly, it is also susceptible to bacteria and molds infestation. In addition, sunlight could also reduce the nutritional value of your powder.
Moreover, using a moist or dirty spoon could ruin the powder.
Try This: Add half a spoon of wheatgrass powder to smoothies, add to the water and make wheatgrass juice, or sprinkle over soups and salads. You can use a spoon to stir it in, but a blender will give better results for even mixing.
Final Thoughts
Wheatgrass is a wonderful rich natural source of nutrient that contains vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll.
For some users, wheatgrass is often a part of their diet since it assists the body with the removal of impurities and the build-up of toxins.
It can be used in many dishes as a dietary supplement, such as smoothies, yogurt, salad, and soup.
When consuming wheatgrass in powdered form, it is mixed with water to create a juice.
This juice can also taste bitter, but you can blend it with sweet tasting fruits, juices, and smoothies to be very tasty drink.
Wheatgrass starts to spoil as soon as you cut it. So, you will want to store it in airtight containers, and then, if it is raw, place shrink wrap or tighten the lid to make it airtight, and put it in the refrigerator for up to 7 or 8 days.
if it is in juice form, you can freeze in an ice cube tray and keep them fresh for up to 6 months.
Finally, If powdered, place into airtight containers or ziploc bags, then store at room temp in a dry place.