fenugreek

1. A cloverlike Eurasian plant (Trigonella foenum-graecum) having white flowers. Its mildly bitter seeds and aromatic leaves are used as flavorings.
2. The seeds or leaves of this plant.

[Middle English fenigrek, from Old French fenegrec, from Latin fēnugraecum, from fēnum Graecum : fēnum, hay; see fennel + Graecum, neuter of Graecus, Greek; see Greek.]

For more information on fenugreek, visit Britannica.com.

Trigonella feonumgraecum, a leguminous plant eaten as a vegetable; the seeds are used for flavouring. It is traditionally eaten by women in the Orient to help gain weight.

[FEHN-yoo-greek] Native to Asia and southern Europe, this aromatic plant is known for its pleasantly bitter, slightly sweet seeds. Its leaves (not generally available in the United States) can be used in salads. Fenugreek seeds, which come whole and ground, are used to flavor many foods including curry powders, spice blends and teas. Fenugreek seeds should be stored in a cool, dark place for no more than 6 months.

Description

Fenugreek is an herb native to southeastern Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, but is widely cultivated in other parts of the world. Its botanical name is Trigonella foenum-graecum; its English name comes from two Latin words meaning Greek hay. Fenugreek is an annual plant that grows 2–3 ft (0.6–0.9 m) tall, with a strong odor and small pale yellow flowers. The seed of the fenugreek plant contains many active compounds with pharmaceutical applications. The seeds are collected in the autumn. The chemical components of fenugreek seed include iron, vitamin A, vitamin B₁, vitamin C, phosphates, flavonoids, saponins, trigonelline, and other alkaloids. The seed is also high in fiber and protein.

General Use

Quite apart from its therapeutic value, fenugreek is used as a seasoning and flavoring agent in foods, particularly in Egypt, India, and the Middle East. The maple smell and flavor of fenugreek have led to its use as a spice in foods, beverages, confections, tobacco, and imitation maple syrup. In some countries, the seeds are eaten raw or boiled, or the greens are enjoyed as a fresh salad. Extracts of fenugreek are used in some cosmetic products as well.

In addition to its use in flavoring foods, the antifungal and antibacterial properties of fenugreek are now being applied to food preservation. In June 2002, a high school student from Maryland was awarded a Lemelson-MIT Invention Apprenticeship for her invention of a food packaging paper made from fenugreek seeds.

The best-documented medical use of fenugreek is to control blood sugar in both insulin-dependent (type 1) and noninsulin-dependent (type 2) diabetics. Some studies also show that serum cholesterol levels in diabetics, and perhaps in others, are reduced by fenugreek. Doses as low as 15 mg per day may produce beneficial effects on fasting blood sugar, elevation of blood sugar after a meal, and overall glycemic control. The use of fenugreek is likely to alter the diabetic patient's need for insulin or other medications used to control blood sugar. This treatment should be supervised by a health care provider familiar with the use of herbal therapies for diabetes. The recommended doses of fenugreek can vary rather widely.

The seeds of fenugreek can also act as a bulk laxative as a result of their fiber and mucilage content. These portions of the seed swell up from being in contact with water, filling the bowel and stimulating peristaltic activity. For laxative purposes, 0.5–1 tsp of freshly powdered herb per cup of water, followed by an additional 8 oz water, can be taken one to three times daily. Patients should begin with the lowest effective dose of fenugreek; they should also avoid taking oral medications or vitamins at the same time as the herb.

Capsules of fenugreek seed are sometimes recommended as a galactogogue, or agent to increase milk production in the lactating mother. This use of the herb should be undertaken cautiously, since the evidence of safety for the nursing infant is only anecdotal. Some commercial teas promoted for the purpose of increasing lactation use fenugreek as an ingredient, but herbal concentration in teas can vary widely and are generally somewhat low.

There is some evidence that internal use of fenugreek seed can decrease some stone-forming substances in the kidney, particularly calcium oxalate. Patients who are prone to this type of kidney stone may wish to consult a health care provider about the advisability and dose of fenugreek seed for this use.

Fenugreek may encourage a flagging appetite, and is sometimes given during convalescence from illnesses to improve food intake, weight gain, and speed of recuperation.

Cancer researchers are also studying fenugreek for its potential effectiveness as a cancer chemopreventive. It is thought that fenugreek may help to prevent cancer by raising the levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, and other antioxidants in the bloodstream.

Historically, fenugreek has been used as a topical treatment for abscesses, boils, burns, eczema, gout, and ulceration of the skin as it has an anti-inflammatory effect. It is also reputedly useful for a number of digestive complaints, including gastritis and gastric ulcers. A study published in 2002 found that both an aqueous solution and a gel fraction derived from fenugreek have anti-ulcer effects comparable to those of omeprazole, a standard medication given to reduce gastric secretions. The researchers found that the fenugreek solution protected the gastric mucosa from injury as well as reducing the secretion of gastric acid.

Fenugreek reportedly can be helpful in the induction of childbirth, as it is known to stimulate uterine contractions. For this reason it should not be taken during pregnancy. As a gargle, fenugreek may relieve sore throats and coughing. Arthritis, bronchitis, fevers, and male reproductive conditions are other traditional but unsubstantiated indications for this herb.

Preparations

Fenugreek may be purchased as bulk seeds, capsules, tinctures, or in teas. Due to the strong, bitter taste, capsules are used most often. The dose is variable, depending on the form of the herb that is used. The seeds may also be soaked to make a tea. For topical use, powdered fenugreek seed is mixed with water to form a paste. Herbal supplements should be stored in a cool, dry place, away from direct light and out of the reach of children.

Precautions

Fenugreek may, when taken in larger amounts than are used to season foods, cause contractions of the uterus. For this reason, women who are pregnant should avoid therapeutic doses. Frequent topical use of fenugreek preparations may cause skin irritation and sensitization. Symptoms of allergic reaction include swelling, numbness, and wheezing. This herb should not be used by anyone with sensitivity to fenugreek. Large doses (over 100 g per day) may cause intestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, nausea, and gas. Blood sugar can also drop to abnormally low levels. Fenugreek is generally recognized as safe, but its safety is not well-documented for use in small children, lactating women, or persons with liver or kidney disease.

Side Effects

Depending on the dose used, fenugreek may cause a maple syrup odor in the patient's sweat and urine.

Interactions

Fenugreek can enhance anticoagulant activity, and should not be used with other herbs or medications (heparin, warfarin, ticlopidine) that have this effect due to increased risk of bleeding. It can lower blood sugar to a marked degree; blood sugar levels should be monitored closely, particularly in people who are taking insulin, glipizide, or other hypoglycemic agents. Medications that are being taken to control diabetes may need to have dosages adjusted, which should be done under medical supervision. In theory, since fenugreek is high in mucilage, it can alter the absorption of any oral medication. Corticosteroid and other hormone treatments may be less effective. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) may have increased activity when used in conjunction with fenugreek.

Resources

Books

Bratman, Steven, and David Kroll. Natural Health Bible. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1999.

Griffith, H. Winter. Vitamins, Herbs, Minerals & Supplements: The Complete Guide. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books, 1998.

Jellin, Jeff, Forrest Batz, and Kathy Hitchens. Pharmacist's Letter/Prescriber's Letter Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. Stockton, CA: Therapeutic Research Faculty, 1999.

Leninger, Skye. The Natural Pharmacy. Rocklin, CA: Prima Health, 1998.

Pelletier, Kenneth R., MD. The Best Alternative Medicine, Part I: Naturopathic Medicine. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Periodicals

Devasena, T., and V. P. Menon. "Enhancement of Circulatory Antioxidants by Fenugreek During 1,2-Dimethylhy-drazine-Induced Rat Colon Carcinogenesis." Journal of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics 6 (August 2002): 289-292.

Gabay, M. P. "Galactogogues: Medications That Induce Lactation." Journal of Human Lactation 18 (August 2002): 274-279.

Genet, S., R. K. Kale, and N. Z. Baquer. "Alterations in Antioxidant Enzymes and Oxidative Damage in Experimental Diabetic Rat Tissues: Effect of Vanadate and Fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum graecum)." Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 236 (July 2002): 7-12.

Ohr, Linda M. "Catching Up with Diabetes." Food Technology 56 (September 2002): 87-92.

Pandian, R. S., C. V. Anuradha, and P. Viswanathan. "Gastroprotective Effect of Fenugreek Seeds (Trigonella foenum graecum) on Experimental Gastric Ulcer in Rats." Journal of Ethnopharmacology 81 (August 2002): 393-397.

Organizations

American Botanical Council. PO Box 144345. Austin, TX 78714-4345.

Centre for International Ethnomedicinal Education and Research (CIEER). .

Herb Research Foundation. 1007 Pearl St., Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80302. (303) 449-2265. .

Other

MIT News. "Lemelson-MIT Program Awards 2002 High School Apprenticeship to Inventive Maryland Student." .

[Article by: Judith Turner; Rebecca J. Frey, PhD]

Fenugreek
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Trigonella
Species:	T. foenum-graecum
Binomial name
Trigonella foenum-graecum L.[1]

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Fenugreek is used both as a herb (the leaves) and as a spice (the seed). It is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop. It is frequently used in curry.

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

History

Look up fenugreek in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The name "fenugreek" or foenum-graecum is from Latin for "Greek hay". The Marathi name is Methya (मेथ्या). The Kannada name is "menthya" (ಮೆಂತ್ಯ). The Tamil name for it is "Vendayam" (வெந்தயம்). The Telugu name for it is "Menthulu" (మెంతులు). The Malayalam name is "Uluva" (ഉലുവ). (In Bangla, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi it is called Methi (मेथी) (Urdu: میتھی). In Farsi it is Shambalîleh (شنبليله), and in Arabic its name is Hilbeh (حلبة). The Malay language borrows the term halba from Arabic. The plant's similarity to wild clover has likely spawned its Swedish name, "bockhornsklöver" as well as in German - "Bockshornklee" , literally meaning 'ram's horn clover'. Zohary and Hopf note that it is not yet certain which wild strain of the genus Trigonella gave rise to the domesticated fenugreek but believe it was brought into cultivation in the Near East. Charred fenugreek seeds have been recovered from Tell Halal, Iraq, (radiocarbon dating to 4000 BC) and Bronze Age levels of Lachish, as well as desiccated seeds from the tomb of Tutankhamen.^[2] Cato the Elder lists fenugreek with clover and vetch as crops grown to feed cattle (De Agri Cultura, 27).

Production

Major fenugreek producing countries are India, Pakistan, Argentina, Egypt, France, Spain, Turkey, Morocco and China. While India is the largest producer in the World. In India, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab are the major fenugreek producing states. While Rajasthan has maximum area and production of about more than 80% of India's total production, the Qasoori Methi, more popular for its appetizing fragrance, comes from Qasur, Pakistan, and regions irrigated by Sutlej River, in Indian and Pakistani states of Punjab. (sources: T. Jilani PhD, Arizona, DASD 2007) ^[3] & ^[4]

Use

Cuisine

The cuboid yellow to amber coloured fenugreek seed, commonly called maithray, is frequently used in the preparation of pickles, curry powders, and pastes, and is often encountered in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. The young leaves and sprouts of fenugreek are eaten as greens, and the fresh or dried leaves are used to flavour other dishes. The dried leaves (called kasturi methi) have a bitter taste and a strong characteristic smell.

Fenugreek green is a very popular curry cooked in the major sub-continental region of India and Pakistan, usually together with potatoes and/or spinach, and eaten with Roti or Naan (tortiya) and/or rice. It is usually eaten boiled in China, and central and Western Asia.

In India, fenugreek seeds are mixed with yogurt and used as a conditioner for hair. It is one of the three ingredients of idli and dosa. It is also one of the ingredients in the making of khakhra, a type of bread. It is used in injera/taita, a type of bread unique to Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine. The word for fenugreek in Amharic is abesh, and the seed is reportedly also often used in Ethiopia as a natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes. It is also sometimes used as an ingredient in the production of clarified butter (Amharic: qibé, Ethiopian and Eritrean Tigrinya: tesme), which is similar to Indian ghee. In Turkey, fenugreek gives its name, çemen, to a hot paste used in pastırma. The same paste is used in Egypt for the same purpose. The Arabic word hulba حلبة (Helba in Egypt) for the seed resembles its Mandarin Chinese counterpart hu lu ba. In Yemen it is the main condiment and an ingredient added to the national dish called saltah. Fenugreek, or shanbalîleh شنبليله in Persian, is also one of four herbs used for the Iranian recipe Ghormeh Sabzi.

In Egypt, fenugreek seeds are prepared as tea, by being boiled then sweetened. This is a popular winter drink served in coffee shops. In other parts of the Middle East fenugreek is used in a variety of sweet confections. A cake dessert known as Helba in the Islamic world is a tasty treat during Islamic holidays. This is a semolina cake covered in sugar or maple-like syrup, and sprinkled with fenugreek seeds on top.

Jews customarily eat fenugreek during the meal of the first and/or second night of Rosh Hashana (The New Year). Its Aramaic name רוביא sounds like the word for "increase"; it is eaten with a prayer "that our merits increase." ^[5] Yemenite Jews often prepare a foamy substance from fenugreek seeds that they add to soups.

In Bulgaria, fenugreek seeds are used as one of the ingredients in a traditional spice mixture called sharena sol (шарена сол).

In the United States, where maple syrup is popular but expensive, fenugreek is widely used in lower-cost syrup products as a maple syrup flavoring such as Mapleine.

Lactation

Fenugreek seeds are a galactagogue that is often used to increase milk supply in lactating women.^[6] Because the maple syrup-like flavor is strong and not always liked, the seeds are ground to a powder and administered in capsules. Many lactating women who take fenugreek in the quantities required to increase their milk supply notice that their skin exudes a distinct "maple syrup" odor.

Seeds

Dried fenugreek seed

Fenugreek seeds are a rich source of the polysaccharide galactomannan. They are also a source of saponins such as diosgenin, yamogenin, gitogenin, tigogenin, and neotigogens. Other bioactive constituents of fenugreek include mucilage, volatile oils, and alkaloids such as choline and trigonelline.

Fenugreek seeds are used as and herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine under the name Hu Lu Ba. In TCM it warms and tonifies kidneys, disperses cold and alleviates pain. Main indications are cold hernia, pain in the groin. It's used raw or toasted.

Fenugreek is frequently used in the production of flavoring for artificial maple syrups. The taste of toasted fenugreek, like cumin, is additionally based on substituted pyrazines. By itself, fenugreek has a bitter taste.

In the Malay language fenugreek is known as halba (from the Arabic). The seeds are often included in the preparation of a traditional dessert called butir nangka, which is very popular around Ramadan.

Fenugreek seed is widely used as a galactagogue (milk producing agent) by nursing mothers to increase inadequate breast milk supply. Studies have shown that fenugreek is a potent stimulator of breastmilk production and its use was associated with increases in milk production of as much as 900%.^[7] It can be found in capsule form in many health food stores.^[8]

Supplements of fenugreek seeds were shown to lower serum cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein in human patients and experimental models of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia , although the benefits of lowering serum cholesterol in and of itself is controversial (see statins)^{[citation needed]}. 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 relevant animal models by reducing serum glucose and improving glucose tolerance.^[9] Fenugreek is currently available commercially in encapsulated forms and is being prescribed as dietary supplements for the control of hypercholesterolemia and diabetes by practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine.

News

In February 2009, the International Frutarom Corporation factory in North Bergen, New Jersey, United States, was discovered to be the source of a maple syrup-like smell that had wafted throughout New York City intermittently since 2005. The odor was found to be an ester associated with fenugreek seed processing. No health risks have been found.^[10]

References

1. ^ "Trigonella foenum-graecum information from NPGS/GRIN". www.ars-grin.gov. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?40421. Retrieved 2008-03-13. 
2. ^ Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of plants in the Old World, third edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 122.
3. ^ V. A. Parthasarathy, K. Kandinnan and V. Srinivasan, ed. Organic Spices. New India Publishing Agenies. pp. 694. 
4. ^ Statistics
5. ^ Keritot 6a; Horiyot 12a; Rabbenu Nissim at the end of Rosh Hashana, citing the custom of R Hai Gaon. This follows Rashi's translation of רוביא, cited as authoritative by Tur and Shulchan Aruch OC 583:1. But Avudraham interprets רוביא as black-eyed peas.
6. ^ Chantry, Caroline J.; Howard, Cynthia R.; Montgomery, Anne; Wight, Nancy (2004) (^{[dead link]} – ^{Scholar search}), Use of galactogogues in initiating or augmenting maternal milk supply, The Academy Of Breastfeeding Medicine, http://www.bfmed.org/ace-files/protocol/prot9galactogoguesEnglish.pdf 
7. ^ http://www.breastfeeding.org/articles/fenugreek.html
8. ^ http://www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_fenugreek.html
9. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2194788 Effect of fenugreek seeds on blood glucose and serum lipids in type I diabetes
10. ^ http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6642803 abclocal.go.com

External links

• Fenugreek
• Gernot Katzer's spice dictionary - Fenugreek
• Ghormeh Sabzi, an Iranian recipe using fenugreek leaves
• http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products
• Encyclopedia of Spices

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