Fenugreek seed

Fenugreek seed whole consist of dried ripe seed of trigonella foenumgraecum. The colour is carramel to light brownish-yellow. Odour and taste are typical, a bit of cellery and bitter. Free from foregn odour and taste, such as mustiness or rancidity . Fenugreek has a strong, pleasant and quite peculiar odour.

Fenugreek seed is the ripe fruit of an annual herb. This robust herb has light green leaves, is 30-60 cm tall and produces slender, beaked pods, 10-15 cm long, each pod contains 10-20 small hard yellowish brown seeds, which are smooth and oblong, about 3mm long, each grooved across one corner, giving them a hooked appearance.

Origin and Distribution
Fenugreek is a native of South Eastern Europe and West Asia, now cultivated in India, Argentina, Egypt and Mediterranean countries (Southern France, Morocco and Lebanon). In India it is grown extensively in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab.

It is a cold season crop and is fairly tolerant to frost and very low temperature. It is best suited to tracts of moderate to low rainfall and is sown in all types of soil but perform better in loam and clayey loam with proper drainage. It can also be grown on black cotton soils.