Fenugreek Trigonella foenum graecum seed
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LATIN NAME: Trigonella foenum-graecum
COMMON NAME: Fenugreek
Fenugreek is a small, hard seed with a very long memory. The low, upright annual carries the clover-like, three-part leaves and the small, cream or pale-yellow flowers, to be followed by the slender, curved pods that hold the small, hard, amber-brown seeds with the warm, maple-like scent. The seeds have a very long record of use in the kitchens, the old practice and the spice trade of the East, and the plant is a fine, generous herb of the warm season. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The fenugreek is an old and steady subject of the plant science, studied for the small, hard seeds with the warm, maple-like scent. The chemistry of the seeds, which carry the compounds of the old practice and the kitchen, has been studied closely, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the spice crops, the medicinal seeds and the members of the pea family. The clover-like leaves and the low, upright habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the fenugreek is a regular subject of the studies of the old seeds of the spice trade.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The fenugreek is a small seed with a very long list of duties. The amber-brown seeds are ground into the warm, maple-like spice of the curries, the spice blends and the flatbreads of the East, and the seeds and the leaves have their own long record in the old practice of the region. The plant is also a fine, fast green manure of the warm season, feeding the soil, and the young leaves are eaten as the fresh, mildly bitter green. It has been written about in the culinary and the botanical papers for the maple-like seeds and the very long record of use, and it is a fine, generous plant of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.
Fenugreek is one of the old seeds of the spice trade, and the amber-brown seeds are ground into the warm, maple-like spice of the curries and the flatbreads of the East. The young leaves are also eaten as the fresh, mildly bitter green.
To grow the fenugreek from seed, sow the seeds in the open ground in spring at a depth of about a centimetre, in rows, keeping the ground moist, and thin the seedlings to a hand’s width apart. The seedlings show themselves within a week and grow on fast. With the sun and the well-drained ground, the slender, curved pods will ripen through the warm season.
Fenugreek seed Trigonella foenum‑graecum
In cultivation since the Bronze Age, fenugreek travelled the world with the cultures that used it and can be found growing wild in many places. Now primarily cultivated in southern Europe, northern Africa and India, it is used as a spice, tea, vegetable, forage crop, dye plant, and as a starter material in the production of steroid medications. A common ingredient in curry powder, it is used in oriental sauces, soups, stews, the production of imitation flavourings like maple and vanilla, as well as for seasoning and preserving butter.



