Chapter 28 - Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.): Distribution, Genetic Diversity, and Potential to Serve as an Industrial Crop for the Global Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical, and Functional Food Industries

Abstract

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is an annual forge legume and a traditional spice crop. It is also well known as an aromatic and medicinal plant that has been commonly used both in Indian Ayurvedic systems as well as in the traditional Sino-Tibetan medicinal practices. The plant has a number of important medicinal properties and the medicinal properties are attributed to the wide range of phytochemicals present in the leaves and seeds of the plant, namely diosgenin (steroidal sapogenin), trigonelline and fenugreekine (alkaloids), galactomannans (complex carbohydrate), and 4-hydroxy isoleucine (amino acid), etc. Currently the crop is grown in parts of United States, Canada, Argentina, North Africa, Mediterranean Europe, Middle East, South Asia, China, and Australia. The crop is recommended for the dry and semiarid regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America as it grow well under rainfed conditions. Fenugreek has a number of species around the globe along with a wide diversity of germplasms and cultivars reported in different producer countries. Due to its multipurpose applications, fenugreek has huge potential both in agriculture as well as in the global pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and functional food industries.