Fenugreek - Wikipedia, the free e...

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Fenugreek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fenugreek (/fnjrik/; Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop, and its seeds are a common ingredient in dishes from the Indian Subcontinent. It is known as methi in Marathi (), Punjabi () or (), Hindi (), Urdu(), Bengali () and Nepali (), as menthiyam, and venthayam () in Tamil, "uluhaal" () in Sinhala, ShOoT ( ) in Hebrew, (emen tozu) in Turkish, Helba ( )in Arabic and Dari,Shanbelileh ( ) in Persian, menthya () in Kannada, uluwa () in Malayalam, moshoseitaro () or () or () in Greek and menthulu () in Telugu.

Fenugreek

Contents
1 History 2 Production 3 Use 3.1 Cuisine 3.2 Lactation 3.3 Medicinal 4 Seeds 5 Nutritional profile 6 News 7 References 8 External links

Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Angiosperms Eudicots Rosids Fabales Fabaceae Trigonella T. foenum-graecum Binomial name Trigonella foenum-graecum
L.[1]

History
Zohary and Hopf note that it is not certain which wild strain of the genus Trigonella gave rise to domesticated fenugreek: they believe it was brought into cultivation in the Near East. Charred fenugreek seeds have been recovered from Tell Halal, Iraq, (carbon dated to 4000 BC) and Bronze Age levels of Lachish and desiccated seeds from the tomb of Tutankhamen.[2] Cato the Elder lists fenugreek with clover and vetch as crops grown to feed cattle.[3]

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Production
Major fenugreek-producing countries are Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Argentina, Egypt, France, Spain, Turkey and Morocco. The largest producer is India, where the major producing states are Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Punjab Rajasthan accounts for over 80% of India's output.[4][5]

Use
Cuisine
Fenugreek has three culinary uses: as a herb (dried or fresh leaves), as a spice (seeds), and as a vegetable (fresh leaves, sprouts, and microgreens). Sotolon is the chemical responsible for fenugreek's distinctive sweet smell. Distinctive cuboid-shaped, yellow-to-amber colored fenugreek seeds are frequently encountered in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. They are used in the preparation of pickles, vegetable dishes, daals, and spice mixes such as panch phoron and sambar powder. They are used both whole and in powdered form and are often roasted to reduce their bitterness and enhance their flavor.[6] Fresh fenugreek leaves are an ingredient in some Indian curries. The sprouted seeds and microgreens are used in salads. When harvested as microgreens, fenugreek is known as Samudra Methi in Maharashtra, especially in and around Mumbai, where it is often grown near the sea in the sandy tracts, hence the name (Samudra, "ocean" in Sanskrit).[7] Samudra Methi is also grown in dry river beds in the Gangetic plains. When sold as a vegetable in India, the young plants are harvested with their roots still attached. Any remaining soil is washed off to extend their shelf life. They are then sold in small bundles in the markets and bazaars.

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In Persian cuisine, fenugreek leaves are called ( shanbalile). They are the key ingredient and one of several greens incorporated into ghormeh sabzi and Eshkeneh, often said to be the Iranian national dishes. Fenugreek is used in Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine.[8] The word for fenugreek in Amharic is abesh (or abish), and the seed is used in Ethiopia as a natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes.[8] Yemenite Jews following the interpretation of Rabbi Salomon Isaacides, Rashi of Talmd, believe fenugreek, which they call hilbeh, hilba, helba, or halba ( )is the Talmudic Rubia () . They use it to produce a sauce also called hilbeh,[9] reminiscent of curry. It is consumed daily and ceremoniously during the meal of the first and/or second night of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year).[10]

Lactation
Fenugreek seeds are thought to be a galactagogue, often used to increase milk supply in lactating mothers.[11]

Medicinal
A June 2011 study at the Australian Centre for Integrative Clinical and Molecular Medicine found that men aged 25 to 52 who took a fenugreek extract twice daily for six weeks scored 25% higher on tests gauging libido levels than those who took a placebo.[12][13] [14][15] Fenugreek seeds contain a high level of palmitoylethanolamide, more than 25%.[16] Palmitoylethanolamide is an endogenous lipid, which can be found in many plants and animals, but never in such high concentrations. Palmitoylethanolamide has been proven to be a natural analgesic and anti-inflammatory compound.

Seeds
Fenugreek seed is widely used as a galactagogue (milk producing agent) by nursing mothers to increase inadequate breast milk supply. Studies have shown that it is a potent stimulator of breast milk production and its use was associated with increases in milk production.[17] It can be found in capsule form in many health food stores.[18] Several human intervention trials demonstrated that the antidiabetic effects of fenugreek seeds ameliorate most metabolic symptoms associated with type-1 and type-2 diabetes in both humans and animals by reducing serum glucose and improving glucose tolerance.[19][20]

Nutritional profile
Fenugreek leaves contain the following nutrients per 100 g of edible portion:[21][22] Carbohydrates: 6.0 g Protein: 4.4 g Fat: 0.9 g Minerals: 1.5 g Calcium: 395 mg Phosphorus: 51 mg Iron: 1.93 mg Total energy: 49 kcal
Dried fenugreek seed

News
In February 2009, the International Frutarom Corporation factory in North Bergen, New Jersey was found to be the source of a mysterious maple syrup aroma that had been reported as occasionally drifting over New York City since 2005. The odor was found to be from sotolon, an ester in fenugreek seeds. No health risks have been found.[23] Fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt in 2009 and 2010 have been linked to outbreaks of Escherichia coli O104:H4 in Germany and France, causing 50 deaths in 2011.[24][25]

References
1. ^ "Trigonella foenum-graecum information from NPGS/GRIN" (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgibin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?40421). www.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 2008-03-13. 2. ^ Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf (2000). Domestication of plants in the Old World (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 122. 3. ^ Cato the Elder. De Agri Cultura. p. 27. 4. ^ V. A. Parthasarathy, K. Kandinnan and V. Srinivasan (ed.). "Fenugreek". Organic Spices. New India Publishing Agenies. p. 694. 5. ^ Statistics (http://dacnet.nic.in/spices/index_frame.asp) 6. ^ "Fenugreek recipes" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/fenugreek). BBC Food.

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7. ^ "How to Series: Growing Methi 15. (Fenugreek)" (http://fenugreeklove.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/growingmethi-fenugreek/). A blog called "Fenugreek Love". Retrieved 2 March 2011. 8. ^ a b Gall, Alevtina; Zerihun Shenkute (November 3, 2009). 16. "Ethiopian Traditional and Herbal Medications and their Interactions with Conventional Drugs" (http://ethnomed.org/clinical/pharmacy/ethiopian-herbdrug-interactions). EthnoMed. University of Washington. 17. Retrieved January 27, 2011. 9. ^ "Hilba (Fenugreek_paste)" (http://www.cookipedia.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Hilba_ (Fenugreek_paste)). cookipedia.co.uk. 10. ^ This is based on the assumption that the Aramaic name corresponds to it. (Karetot 6a; Horiyot 12a) Rabbenu Nissim at the end of Rosh Hashana, citing the custom of R Hai Gaon. This follows Rashi's translation of , cited as authoritative 18. by Tur and Shulchan Aruch OC 583:1. But Avudraham interprets as black-eyed peas. 11. ^ Chantry, Caroline J.; Howard, Cynthia R.; Montgomery, 19. Anne; Wight, Nancy (2004). Use of galactogogues in initiating or augmenting maternal milk supply (http://web.archive.org/web/20070628052457/http://www.bfmed.org/acefiles/protocol/prot9galactogoguesEnglish.pdf) (PDF). ABM 20. protocols, Protocol#9. The Academy Of Breastfeeding Medicine. Archived from the original (http://www.bfmed.org/acefiles/protocol/prot9galactogoguesEnglish.pdf) on 2007-06-28. "Supported in part by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services." 21. 12. ^ John Thorpe (2011-06-20). "Get it to the Fenugreek? How Curry Can Seed Your Sex Life" (http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/06/20/benzinga1183453.DTL). San 22. Francisco Chronicle. 13. ^ Amanda Chan (2011-06-20). "Fenugreek: A Spice To Spice Things Up In The Bedroom" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/fenugreeklibido_n_880596.html). Huffington Post. 23. 14. ^ Steels, E.; Rao, A.; Vitetta, L. (2011). "Physiological Aspects of Male Libido Enhanced by Standardized Trigonella foenumgraecum Extract and Mineral Formulation". Phytotherapy 24. Research: n/a. doi:10.1002/ptr.3360 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002%2Fptr.3360). PMID 21312304 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21312304). 25.

^ Basch, E; Ulbricht, C; Kuo, G; Szapary, P; Smith, M (2003). "Therapeutic applications of fenugreek" (http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/8/1/20.pdf). Altern Med Rev 8 (1): 2027. PMID 12611558 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12611558). ^ Kamal Kishore Pande et al Limonene dominates the Phytochemistry of Trigonella foenum-graceum in Nature, Nature and Science, 2011;9(5) http://www.sciencepub.net/nature) ^ Turkylmaz, C.; Onal, E.; Hirfanoglu, I. M.; Turan, O.; Ko, E.; Ergenekon, E.; Atalay, Y. L. Z. (2011). "The Effect of Galactagogue Herbal Tea on Breast Milk Production and ShortTerm Catch-Up of Birth Weight in the First Week of Life". The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 17 (2): 139142. doi:10.1089/acm.2010.0090 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1089%2Facm.2010.0090). PMID 21261516 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21261516). ^ "All About Fenugreek" (http://www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_fenugreek.html). breastfeeding.com. ^ Sharma, RD; Raghuram, TC; Rao, NS (1990). "Effect of fenugreek seeds on blood glucose and serum lipids in type I diabetes". European journal of clinical nutrition 44 (4): 3016. PMID 2194788 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2194788). ^ Gupta, A; Gupta, R; Lal, B (2001). "Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) seeds on glycaemic control and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a double blind placebo controlled study". J Assoc Physicians India 49: 1057 61. PMID 11868855 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11868855). ^ C.Gopalan, B.V. Ramasastri and S.C. Balasubramaniyam. Nutritive value of Indian food. National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR Hydrabad. ^ Sharma, RD; Raghuram, TC; Rao, NS (1990). "Effect of fenugreek seeds on blood glucose and serum lipids in type I diabetes". European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 44 (4): 301 6. PMID 2194788 (//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2194788). ^ "Mayor reveals source of syrup smell |" (http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story? section=news/local&id=6642803). abclocal.go.com. ^ "E. coli outbreaks linked to Egypt" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13973002). BBC News. 2011-06-30. ^ McKenna, Maryn (2011-07-07). "E. coli: A Risk for 3 More Years From Who Knows Where" (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/e-coli-3years/). Wired.

External links
Fenugreek Seeds for Healthy Shiny Hair (http://readanddigest.com/fenugreek-seeds-for-healthy-shiny-hair/) Read and Digest Fenugreek (http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Trig_foe.html?style=flow), Gernot Katzer's spice dictionary About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products (http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Encyclopedia of Spices (http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/fenugree.html) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fenugreek&oldid=590117750" Categories: Trifolieae Edible legumes Iraqi cuisine Leaf vegetables Medicinal plants Nitrogen-fixing crops Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Spices Plants described in 1753 This page was last modified on 10 January 2014 at 19:40. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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