GRAIN YIELD AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN FENUGREEK : A REVIEW

GRAIN YIELD AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN FENUGREEK : A REVIEW

MANOJ KUMAR*, MAHAVIR PARSAD AND R. K. ARYA1

Department of Vegetable Science, CCS HAU Hisar

1Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS HAU Hisar

* (Email: drvermamanoj@gmail.com)

(Received : 5 August 2013; Accepted: 25 October 2013)

SUMMARY

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is traditionally used as a spice and forage crop in parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America and Australia. This crop is now being cultivated as an annual forage legume crop and spice crop in India.Its green leaves and seeds are used for multipurpose. 100 g of seeds provide more than 65% of dietary fibre due to its high fibre content and it has an ability to change food texture. It is well known for its gum, fibre, alkaloid, flavonoids, saponin and volatile contents. it is used as food stabilizer, adhesive and emulsifying agent due its fibre, protein and gum content. Without enough variability and successive judicial selection, development of suitable cultivar(s) with high seed yield and quality under prairie conditions will not be possible.To reach its full potential, high yielding, early maturing fenugreek cultivars that produce good seed yield and quality need to be developed. Variants showing improved seed yield and yield attributing traits that can be used for cultivar development.

Key words: Fenugreek, yield, quality improvement

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