thumb|Fenugreek greens
Fenugreek (; Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its leaves and seeds are common ingredients in dishes from the Indian subcontinent, and have been used as a culinary ingredient since ancient times. Its use as a food ingredient in small quantities is safe.
Although a common dietary supplement, Commonly used in traditional medicine, fenugreek can increase the risk of serious adverse effects, including allergic reactions. Cato the Elder lists fenugreek with clover and vetch as crops grown to feed cattle.
In one first-century AD recipe, the Romans flavoured wine with fenugreek. In the 1st century AD, in Galilee, it was grown as a staple food, as Josephus mentions in his book, the Wars of the Jews. The plant is mentioned in the second-century compendium of Jewish Oral Law (Mishnah) under its Hebrew name tiltan.
Etymology
The English name derives via Middle French fenugrec from Latin faenugraecum, faenum Graecum meaning "Greek hay".
Production
India is a major producer of fenugreek, and over 80% of India's output is from the state of Rajasthan.
Uses
thumb|right|Fenugreek seeds
Fenugreek is used as a herb<!-- "a herb" is British English ---> (dried or fresh leaves), spice (seeds), and vegetable (fresh leaves, sprouts, and microgreens). Sotolon is the chemical responsible for the distinctive maple syrup smell of fenugreek.
Cooking
Fresh fenugreek leaves are an ingredient in some curries, such as with potatoes in Indian cuisines to make aloo methi (potato fenugreek) curry.
In Armenian cuisine, fenugreek seed powder is used to make a paste that is an important ingredient to cover dried and cured beef to make basturma.
In Iranian cuisine, fenugreek leaves are called shambalileh. They are one of several greens incorporated into the herb stew ghormeh sabzi, the herb frittata kuku sabzi, and the soup eshkeneh.
In Georgian cuisine, a related species—Trigonella caerulea, called "blue fenugreek"—is used.
In Egyptian cuisine, fenugreek is known by the Arabic name hilba or helba حلبة. Seeds are boiled to make a drink that is consumed at home and in coffee shops. Peasants in Upper Egypt add fenugreek seeds and maize to their pita bread to produce aish merahrah, a staple of their diet. Basterma, a cured, dried beef, gets its distinctive flavour from the fenugreek used as a coating.
In the same way in Turkish cuisine, fenugreek seed powder, called çemen, is used to make a paste with paprika powder and garlic to cover dried and cured beef in making pastirma/basturma. (Its name comes from the Turkish verb bastırmak, meaning "to press").
In Palestinian cuisine, fenugreek is used as an ingredient in a cake called fenugreek cake or hilbeh.
In Moroccan cuisine, fenugreek is used in rfissa, a dish associated with the countryside.
Fenugreek is used in Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisines. The word for fenugreek in Amharic is abesh (or abish), and the seed is used in Ethiopia as a natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes.
In Yemen, a small amount of oud al hilba (عود الحلبة), which appears to be the same as ashwagandha, is traditionally added to ground fenugreek seeds before they are mixed with water to prepare the hulbah paste. This is believed to aid in digestion and more importantly to prevent or lessen the maple-syrup smell that usually occurs when consuming fenugreek.
Nutritional profile
In a 100-gram reference amount, fenugreek seeds provide of food energy and contain 9% water, 58% carbohydrates, 23% protein, and 6% fat. Fenugreek seeds provide calcium at 14% of the Daily Value (DV, table). Fenugreek seeds (per 100 grams) are a rich source of protein (46% DV), dietary fiber, B vitamins, and dietary minerals, particularly manganese (59% DV) and iron (262% DV) (table).
Dietary supplement
Fenugreek dietary supplements are manufactured from powdered seeds into capsules, loose powders, teas, and liquid extracts in many countries.
Food additive
Fenugreek seeds and leaves contain sotolon, which imparts the aroma of fenugreek and curry in high concentrations, and maple syrup or caramel in lower concentrations. Fenugreek is used as a flavoring agent in imitation maple syrup or tea, and as a dietary supplement. Research into whether fenugreek reduces biomarkers in people with diabetes and with prediabetic conditions is of limited quality.
As of 2023, no high-quality evidence has been found for whether fenugreek is safe and effective in relieving dysmenorrhea or improving lactation during breastfeeding. Studies of fenugreek are characterized as having variable, poor experimental design and quality, including small numbers of subjects, failure to describe methods, inconsistency and duration of dosing, and not recording adverse effects. Identification of a common producer and a single batch of fenugreek seeds was evidence for the origin of the outbreaks.