Impact of Drying Methods on Nutrient Retention in Fenugreek Microgreens

Iron deficiency anaemia affects a significant proportion of the children and women of reproductive age. In India, this issue mostly arises from the population's reliance on vegetarian sources of iron to meet their dietary requirements due to limited bioavailability. To combat Iron deficiency anaemia, microgreens were chosen as a medium due to their dense nutrient composition as well as sustainable, time-efficient method of cultivation. Since fenugreek is widely accepted in the Indian palate and previous research indicates that fenugreek microgreens have higher bioavailability for iron absorption, they were chosen for further research. Aim: To evaluate the effect of drying methods on nutritional composition of Microgreens. Materials and Method: The research included the selection of microgreens with high iron content. Standard drying methods - food dehydrator, tray drying, and freeze-drying were employed to choose the methods that preserve the nutrient quality efficiently, followed by proximate analysis for nutrient content of the microgreens. Results: The results indicated that freeze drying retained the maximum nutrients especially iron. Conclusion: The research shows promising results towards the use of fenugreek microgreens to combat Iron deficiency Anaemia by incorporating them into food products. Further studies need to be done to assess the in-vitro bioavailability in humans.