Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) plant seeds and leaves are used not only as food spice to enhance flavour, color and texture of food but also as an ingredient in traditional medicine. Fenugreek has been extensively used in Indian Ayurveda and Chinese Traditional Medicine, as remedy for treatment of epilepsy, paralysis, gout, dropsy, chronic cough and piles, and immunomodulatory effects. Diosgenin is a major bioactive constituent present in seeds of fenugreek which is most widely used precursor in the preparation of many steroid drugs, sex hormones and oral contraceptives pills. A rapid and sensitive HPTLC method was standardized for quantification of diosgenin content in fenugreek seeds. The results showed that there was wide variation among germplasm accessions for the contents of diosgenin (0.01–0.27%) and fixed oil (2.2–5.9%). Fenugreek seed oil was found rich in poly unsaturated fatty acids of linoleic acid (33.9–50.5%) and linolenic acid (28.8–48.8%). In addition, important saturated fatty acids present were palmitic acid (11.5–17.0%); stearic acid (2.5–4.5%) and arachidic acid (0.6–1.9%). Promising accessions IC321164, IC580108, IC427704, IC572872, IC432022 and IC310625 were identified for quality traits which would be utilized in developing new cultivars of fenugreek with superior traits.