EFFECT OF SOAKING AND GERMINATION ON MACRO AND MICRONUTRIENT CONTENTS OF TRIGONELLA FOENUM SEEDS

Fenugreek seeds are rich in mucilaginous fiber and other dietary essentials, their use can be exploited as functional and nutritional foods as well as therapeutic agent. In this work the effects of soaking and germination on mineral composition like sodium, potassium, copper, iron, magnesium and zinc, of fenugreek seeds were examined. The above mentioned minerals were analyzed between dry, soaked and sprouted seeds of fenugreek. No significant increase was noted in the amount of sodium and potassium which increased slightly. Concentration of Cu was found highest in raw seeds followed by germinated seeds and lowest in soaked seeds. The concentration of iron was drastically increased in soaked and germinated fenugreek seeds as compared to raw seeds. The concentration of magnesium was observed highest in the fenugreek sprouts followed by raw seeds and lowest in soaked seeds but zinc content of fenugreek seed was found to be highest in (0.660 mg/kg) in raw seeds, followed by germinated seeds (0.658 mg/kg) and soaked seeds (0.583 mg/kg). It may be inferred from the present study that nutritional quality of fenugreek seeds can be improved through processing methods viz. soaking, germination.