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

ABSTRACT

Fenugreekseedsarerichinmucilaginousfiberandotherdietaryessentials,theirusecanbeexploitedasfunctionalandnutritionalfoodsaswellastherapeuticagent.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.Theabovementionedmineralswereanalyzedbetweendry,soakedandsproutedseedsoffenugreek.Nosignificantincreasewasnotedintheamountof sodiumandpotassiumwhichincreasedslightly ConcentrationofCuwasfoundhighestinrawseedsfollowedbygerminatedseedsandlowestinsoakedseeds.The concentrationofironwasdrasticallyincreasedinsoakedandgerminatedfenugreekseedsascomparedtorawseeds.Theconcentrationofmagnesiumwasobserved highestinthefenugreeksproutsfollowedbyrawseedsandlowestinsoakedseedsbutzinccontentoffenugreekseedwasfoundtobehighestin(0.660mg/kg)inraw seeds,followedbygerminatedseeds(0.658mg/kg)andsoakedseeds(0.583mg/kg).Itmaybeinferredfromthepresentstudythatnutritionalqualityoffenugreek seedscanbeimprovedthroughprocessingmethodsviz.soaking,germination.

KEYWORDS:fenugreek,rawseeds,soaked,germinated,macronutrients,micronutrients.

INTRODUCTION:

Fenugreekisregardedastheoldestknownmedicinalplantinrecordedhistory Its seed and leaves have medicinal value, and have been used to reduce blood sugar and lower blood cholesterol in humans and animals (Dahanukar et al., 2000). However, the seeds are bitter in taste due to the presence of bitter saponins,whichlimittheiracceptabilityinfoods(Sharma1986;Udayasekheraetal., 1987).Ontheotherhand,ithasbeenpossibletode-bitterizefenugreekseedsby employingvariousprocessingmethodssuchassoaking,germination,roasting, etc.(Sharma,1986;Shashi,1997).Asfenugreekseedsarerichinmucilaginous fiber and other dietary essentials, their use can be exploited as functional and nutritionalfoodsaswellastherapeuticagent.Bykeepingthesefactsinviewvarious value-added baked and extruded products from wheat-fenugreek flour blendshavebeendeveloped(HoodaandJood2003b).Theoverallobjectiveof thisstudywastoinvestigatetheeffectsofprocessingmethodsonthemineralcontentsoffenugreekseedsinthreedifferentprocessingconditionsi.e.rawgrinded seeds,soakedseedsandgerminatedseeds.

MATERIALANDMETHODS:

SampleCollectionandPreparation:

Approximate500gmoffenugreekseedswerepurchasedandbroughttothelaboratoryfromlocalgrocerystoresinthecommercialcityofRaipur

Grinding:

Therawdriedseedsweregroundedinalaboratorymilltoobtainfineflourand keptinairtightcontaineruntilanalysis.

Soaking:

The seeds were cleaned, graded, sorted and washed three times using potable waterandweresoakedintapwaterfor12hourssatroomtemperature(30±2oC). Attheendofsoakingperiod,thesoakedwaterwasdiscardedandrinsedtwicein tapwater.Theamountofsoakedseedweredividedintotwoparts,onepartwas subjectedtogerminationprocessandotherpartwassubjectedtodryinginadryingovenat60OCfor24handgroundtopassthroughsievetoobtainfinepowder

Germination:

The soaked seeds were allowed to germinate under a wet muslin cloth for 48 hours.Thegerminatedfenugreekseedsweredriedinadryingovenat60OCfor 24handgroundtopassthroughsievetoobtainfinepowder

ANALYSIS:

Priortoanalysis,thesamplesweredigestedwithwetaciddigestionmethod.Subsequently, samples were diluted up to 100 ml which was then filtered with whatman filter paper and ready for analysis using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Sodium and potassium were analyzed using Flame Photometer

RESULTANDDISCUSSION:

Theexperimentsaredoneintriplicatemannerandresultsareexpressedasgraphical figures. No significant increase was noted in the amount of sodium and potassiumwhichincreasedslightly

Coppercontent:theamountofcopperobservedwas0.152mg/kginrawseeds, 0.120mg/kginsoakedseedsand0.149mg/kgingerminatedseeds.Nosignificant increase was observed in the amount of Cu on soaking and sprouting process.Buttheresultsclearlyshowthatfenugreekisanimportantdietarysourceof micronutrients copper Cu is an essential micro- nutrient necessary for the hematologicandneurologicsystems(Tanetal.,2006).Deficiencyofcopperis associated with some health complications such as heart failure and abnormal reproductive system. Copper is also important in the regulation of cholesterol biosynthesis(Leietal.,2017).

Fig.1:Sodiumcontentsofdry,soakedandsprouted Trigonella foenum seeds

Fig.2:Potassiumcontentsofdry,soakedandsprouted Trigonella foenum seeds

DikshaSahu,BeenaSharma

1P.G.Student,DepartmentofBiotechnology,Govt.V.Y.T PGAutonomousCollegeDurg,Chhattisgarh,India. 2Scientist'C'ChhattisgarhCouncilofScience&Technology,Raipur,Chhattisgarh,India.

Fig.3Coppercontentsofdry,soakedandsprouted Trigonella foenum seeds

that of reported by Hooda and Jood (2003a), 1550.9 & 1730 mg/kg (EHNRI, 1997),and1600mg/kg(Srinivasan,2006).

Zinccontent: Zinccontentoffenugreekseedwasfoundtobe0.660mg/kginrawseeds,0.583 mg/kg in soaked seeds and 0.658 mg/kg in germinated seeds. Other study reportedzinccontentoffenugreekseedtobewithintherangeof25.4±.02μg /gmto68.05±.02μg/gm(PathakandAgrawal2014).Comparativelylowercontentsofmineralswhensoakedinwatermightbeduetoleachingoutofsomemineralsintothesoakingwater(NolanandDuffin1987;JoodandKapoor1997).

DecreasesinNaandKcontentascomparedtorawmaterialsareinaccordanceto theresultsofAmanyetal(2014).Thetrendobservedwasconsistenttotheresults ofHoodaandJood(2003)whosuggestedthatsoakingoffenugreekresultedina decreaseintotalCa,FeandZnbutgerminationcausedanincreaseinitscontents relative to the raw material. In accordance with the research of Tamiru et al (2012) during 48 h germination time Fe, Ca and Zn contents increased significantlyascomparedtotherawfenugreekseeds.

CONCLUSION:

Presentinvestigationexplicatedthepotentialofgerminationforthepreparation of fenugreek flour with better nutritional and functional properties. The study showedthat72hofgerminationoffenugreekflourprovedtobethebestforhighestnutrientcontent.

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Fig.4:Ironcontentsofdry,soakedandsprouted Trigonella foenum seeds

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Fig.5:Magnesiumcontentsofdry,soakedandsprouted Trigonella foenum seeds

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Fig.6:Zinccontentsofdry,soakedandsprouted Trigonella foenum seeds

Ironcontent:

Highestconcentrationofironwasfoundingerminatedseeds(03.44mg/kg)followedbysoakedseeds(0.520mg/kg)andrawseeds(0.216mg/kg)respectively PresenceofironinfenugreekseedshasalsobeenreportedbyDoshietal.,2012 and by Shakuntala et al., 2011 in seed endosperm of fenugreek. This clearly shows that fenugreek seeds may serve as an important source of iron supplementationandmayhelpincombatingdietaryirondeficiency

Magnesiumcontent:

Theconcentrationofmagnesiumwasobservedhighestinthefenugreeksprouts i.e.61.09mg/kgfollowedbyrawseeds(44.06mg/kg)andlowestinsoakedseeds i.e. 43.03 mg/kg. The Mg decreased at this time (soaking) might be due to increasedrequirementfornutrientsbythegrowingplantmetabolismHefnawy (2011).Theincreaseinmagnesiumcontentofsproutsisinaccordancewiththe researchofHoodaandJood,(2003).Buttheresultsarelowerthan720.5mg/kg

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