Contents:
Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Nutrient Content | How Sold | Warning | Resource Links | Bibliography
Scientific Names
- Trigonella foenum-graecum L.
- Leguminosae
- Pea family
Common Names
- Fenugreek seeds
- Hu-lu-ba (Chinese name)
- Hu-lu-pa (Chinese name)
- K’u-tou (Chinese name)
- Methi (Sanskrit name)
- Bird’s Foot
- Greek Hayseed
Parts Usually Used
Seeds
Back to Top
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
A native to southestern Europe and west Asia, used for forage and formerly in medicine and having seeds used in cooking. Needs full sun and rich soil.
Fenugreek is an annual plant widely cultivated for both medicinal and culinary uses. A long taproot sends up a round stem with few branches. The leaves are trifoliate, on hairy petioles, with obovate leaflets. In June or July, axillary, sessile, yellowish flowers appear. The fruit is a 16-seeded, compressed, malodorous legume. These are small, pale, reddish-brown seeds with small pods.
Back to Top
Where Found
Cultivated
Back to Top
Medicinal Properties
Seeds: expectorant, demulcent, emollient, fegrifuge, carminitive, nutritive, tonic, mucilaginous, restorative, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, stimulant
Aerial parts: antispasmodic
Back to Top
Biochemical Information
Biotin, choline, inositol, iron, lecithin, mucilage, volatile oils, PABA, phosphates, protein, trigoneline, trimethylamine, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, and D. Rich in phosphates, lecithin, nucleo-albumin, iron, vitamins A and D (similar in composition to cod liver oil).
Back to Top
Legends, Myths and Stories
Fenugreek is one of the oldest medicinal plants, dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Hippocrates. The botanical name (foenum-graecum) means “Greek hay.”
In ancient Egypt, fenugreek was used to ease childbirth and to increase milk flow. Today, it is still taken by Egyptian women for menstrual pain and as hilba tea to ease stomach problems of tourists.
Introduced into the southern provinces of China, the beans were in use as a medicine since the time of the Tang dynasty. Usually parched or boiled, and given with aloes, anise-seed and other substances as a tonic.
Best known in India and among the people around the Mediterranean Sea, the seeds have a flavor somewhat like maple sugar and an extract is used to make artificial maple flavor. Fenugreek is an ingredient in chutneys and used in some curry blends. The roasted seeds are used as an adulterant and as a coffee substitute.
Burkill stated, “The seeds, after roasting, are eaten in Egypt, and in ancient Egypt were regarded as medicinal and were used in religious rites. They contain mucilage, sugars, an alkaloid–trigonellin, which is not poisonous–cholin and a scented compound.”
A study in India involving insulin-dependent diabetics on low doses of insulin, pulverized fenugreek seeds were shown to reduce blood sugar and other harmful fats. The authors of the study suggest adding fenugreek seeds to the diets of diabetics.
In recent years, fenugreek is used as a beverage. Used in Europe in many veterinary preparations.
Back to Top
Uses
Used for allergies, coughs, colds, flu, inflammations, fevers, dyspepsia, tonic, emphysema, flatulence, headaches, toothache, migraines, menstrual cramps, intestinal inflammation, cystitis, hydrocele of the testicle, pellegra, stomach ulcers, lungs, bronchitis, dropsy, mucous membranes, and tea for sore throat gargle.
Acts as a bulk laxative. Reduces fever, lowers cholesterol, and lubricates the intestines. Good for the eyes.
Seeds of this annual herb are used in pickling brines and marinades, as well as folk cures ranging from regulating insulin in diabetes to rickets. It was an ingredient in tonic medicines (including Lydia Pinkham’s) in the nineteenth century.
Large amounts of the decoction are given to strengthen those suffering from tuberculosis or recovering from an illness. Sometimes thought of as an aphrodisiac. Makes poultice of pulverized seeds for gouty pains, neuralgia, scrofula, rickets, anemia, debility, sciatica, swollen glands, wounds, furuncles, abscesses, (grind the seed, mix it with charcoal, and make it into a thick paste for boils, abscesses, wounds, sores), tumors, dandruff, sores, and skin irritation.
The pulverized seeds may be taken as a tonic for osteomyelitis or scrofula (tubercular adenitis; secondary involvement of the cervical lymph nodes).
Mostly used in tea, fenugreek seeds can be sprouted like bean sprouts and used as a vegetable or a salad. The oil of fenugreek has a maple flavor and can be used for a true maple flavoring in cookies and syrups. Seed smells like celery but has a more bitter taste. Ground seed’s primary use is as an ingredient in curries.
Back to Top
Formulas or Dosages
Boil some fenugreek seed in 8 oz. warm water. Make a thick paste. Apply the resulting hot mash to boils, abscesses, irritations, etc. This will soften the spot and draw the pus to the surface, enabling discharge of it.
Decoction: use 2 tsp. seed with 1 cup cold water; let stand for 5 hours. Then heat and boil for 1 minute. Take 2 or 3 cups per day. Improve the taste with peppermint oil, lemon extract, honey, or sugar.
For flatulence: for stomach or intestinal gas, sprinkle powdered
fenugreek over food or drink a tea (1 tsp. seeds to 1 cup boiling
water, steep 15 minutes, strain) with meals.
Gargle: mix 1 tbsp. of pulverized seeds in 8 oz. of boiling
water. Steep for 10 minutes, strain. Gargle 3 times daily (every 3
to 4 hours) to relieve sore throat.
Back to Top
Nutrient Content
Protein, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, and D.
The aromatic oil of fenugreek is rich in iron, vitamins A and D (similar in composition to cod liver oil).
Back to Top
How Sold
Seed sold in whole or powder form.
Capsules: take 1 capsule for up to 3 times daily.
Tablets: 8 to 10 per day.
Back to Top
Warning
A uterine stimulant; should be avoided during pregnancy. The aerial parts may be used during labor.
Insulin-dependent diabetics should seek professional medical advice before using fenugreek as a hypoglycemic.
Back to Top
Resource Links
LiveStrong.com: Fenugreek for Digestion
LiveStrong.com: Benefits of Fenugreek Capsules
LiveStrong.com: Fenugreek Health Benefit
LiveStrong.com: Fenugreek for Congestion
LiveStrong.com: How Safe Is Fenugreek?
LiveStrong.com: Dandelion & Fenugreek Interaction
LiveStrong.com: The Uses of Fenugreek Ayurvedic
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Fenugreek
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fenugreek
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Fenugreek
PubMed.gov: The effect of fenugreek on the gene expression of arachidonic acid metabolizing enzymes.
PubMed.gov: Anti-heartburn effects of a fenugreek fiber product.
PubMed.gov: Role of selected Indian plants in management of type 2 diabetes: a review
PubMed.gov: Herbs for serum cholesterol reduction: a systematic view
PubMed.gov: Fenugreek: a naturally occurring edible spice as an anticancer agent
PubMed.gov: In vitro estrogenic activities of fenugreek Trigonella foenum graecum seeds.
Bibliography
Back to Eden
The Complete Medicinal Herbal
Chinese Medicinal Herbs
American Folk Medicine
Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible
The Herbalist Almanac
Secrets of the Chinese Herbalists
The Herb Book
The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition
Planetary Herbology
Old Ways Rediscovered
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements
Webster’s New World Dictionary
The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living
Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary
The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine
A Useful Guide to Herbal Health Care
The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book)
