Vern. :— Methi(B. and H.) ; Vendayam (Tam.); Mentulu (Tel.); Menthya(Kan.).
Habitat : —Cultivated in many parts of India, but is wild in Kashmir and the Punjab.
Annual, robust, erect, sub-glabrous herbs. Stipules not laciniate. Leaflets toothed, ¾-1 in. long, oblanceolate oblong. Flowers 1-2, sessile in the axils of the leaves. Calyx ¼-⅓ in., teeth linear. Corolla much exserted. Pod 2-3in. long, turgid, 10-20-seeded, with a long, persistent beak, often falcate.
Use : — Fenugreek seeds are considered carminative, tonic, and aphrodisiac. Several confections made with this article are recommended for use in dyspepsia with loss of appetite, in the diarrhœa of puerperal women, and in rheumatism (Hindu Mat. Med.) An infusion of the seeds is given by the Natives to small-pox patients as a cooling drink. Mahomedan writers describe the plant and seeds as hot and dry, suppurative, aperient, diuretic, emmenagogue, useful in dropsy, chronic cough, and enlargements of the spleen and liver. A poultice of the leaves is said to be of use in external and internal swellings and burns, and to prevent the hair falling off. The flour of the seeds is used as a poultice, and is applied to the skin in cosmetic (Dymock). The use of fenugreek as a medicinal agent is now obsolete in Europe and the United States. Formerly the seeds were employed in the preparation of emollient cataplasms, fomentations and enemata, but were never given internally. The powdered seeds are still used in veterinary practice (Bentley and Trimen).
The seeds being toasted and afterwards infused are used by Native practitioners in Southern India for dysentery (Ainslie.) In the Concan, the leaves are used both externally and internally, on account of their cooling properties (Dymock).
Fenugreek.
Analysis of 2 samples gave the following results :—
- Nitrogenous matter ... ... 13.74 and 13.02 p. c.
- Fat ... ... ... ... 3.31 and 3.54 „
- Crude fibre .,. ... ... 31.75 and 29.36 „
- Nitrogen-free extract ... ... 45.79 and 48.14 . „
- Ash ... ... ... ... 5.42 and 5.94 „ in the dry matter.
