Sprouts for Optimum Nutrition
Sprouts are considered as wonder foods. They rank as
the freshest and most nutritious of all vegetables available to the human diet.
By a process of natural transmutation, sprouted food acquires vastly improved
digestibility and nutritional qualities when compared to non-sprouted embryo
from which it derives. Sprouted foods have been part of the diet of many
ancient races for thousands of years. Even to this day, the Chinese retain
their fame for delicious mung beansprouts`. Sprouts provide all the essential
vitamins and minerals. They should form a vital component of our diet.
Sprouting requires no constant care but only an occasional sprinkling of water.
All edible grains, seeds and legumes can be sprouted. Generally the following
are used for sprouting:
1. Grains:
Wheat, maize, ragi, bajra and barley.
2. Seeds: Alfalfa seeds, radish seeds, fenugreek
seeds, carrot seeds, coriander seeds, pumpkin seeds and muskmelon seeds.
3. Legumes:
Mung, Bengal gram, groundnut and peas.
Alfalfa, as the name in Arabic signifies, is the king
of all sprouts. Grown as a plant, its roots are known to burrow as much as 12
meters into the subsoil to bring up valuable trace minerals of which manganese
is especially important to health and digestion; it is a vital component of human
insulin. Apart from minerals, alfalfa is also a rich source of vitamins A, B, C,
E and K and amino acids. Sesame seeds are another good source of nourishment. They
contain all the essential amino acids in their 20 per cent protein content and
higher concentration of calcium than milk does. They are high in lecithin,
unsaturated fats, vitamin E and vitamin B complex, besides other live
nutrients.
How to Sprout
As a first step, a good variety of seeds should be
used for sprouting. It should be ensured that the seeds, legumes or grains are
of the sproutable type. Soybeans do not sprout well as they often become sour.
Wheat has to be grown in soil. It is advisable to use seeds which are not chemically
treated as this slows down the germination rate. The seeds should be washed thoroughly
and then soaked overnight in a jar of pure water. The jar should be covered
with cheesecloth or wire screening. The duration of soaking will depend upon
the size of the seed.
Small seeds are soaked for five hours, medium size
for eight hours and beans and grains for 10 to 12 hours. On the following
morning, the seeds should be rinsed and the water drained off. Not more than one-fourth
of the jar should be filled with the seeds for sprouting. Soaking makes the
seeds, grains or legumes fatty, pulpy and full of water. It should, therefore,
be ensured that the jar has enough room for the seeds to expand during
sprouting. They will expand about eight times their original size. The jar
should be kept at a place which is exposed neither to chill nor hot winds. It should
also be ensured that the mouth of the jar is not completely covered so as to
allow air in. The seeds should be rinsed and water drained off three times
every day till they are ready to eat. The seeds will germinate and become
sprouts in two or three days from commencement of soaking, depending on
temperature and humidity. Care should always be taken to ensure that sprouts do
not lie in water. They should be kept well drained to prevent souring. Sprouts
are at their optimum level of flavour and tenderness when tiny green leaves
appear at the tips. Their nutritional value is also optimum. To retain their
freshness and nutritional value, they should be placed in a refrigerator, if
they cannot be consumed immediately after reaching suitable maturity. Sprouts
can be kept for several days in this way.
Some caution is necessary in sprouting. Soaking for a
longer period than required makes the seeds rot or ferment. The main factors
for germination are water, air, heat and darkness. There may be poor
germination or no germination at all if any of these factors are not present
such as insufficient water, or too much water, lack of sufficient heat, lack of
fresh air, either too cold or too hot surroundings and too much light.
Benefits
There is an amazing increase in nutrients in sprouted
foods when compared to their dried embryo. In the process of sprouting, the
vitamins, minerals and protein increase substantially with corresponding
decrease in calories and carbohydrate content. These comparisons are based on
an equivalent water content in the foods measured. Analysis of dried seeds,
grains and legumes shows a very low water content. But this increases up to
tenfold when the same food is converted into sprouts. For accurate comparison
each must be brought to a common denomination of equal water content to assess
the exact change brought in nutritional value. Sprouted mung beans, for
instance, have a 8.3 increase of water content over dried beans. Hence the
nutritional value of sprouted and dried mung beans can be compared by
multiplying the analysed nutrients of sprouted mung beans by the factor of 8.3.
Based on this criterion, the changes found in sprouted mung beans when compared
with the figures for the beans in the dried state are as follows:
Energy content - calories - Decrease 15 per cent.
Total carbohydrate content - Decrease 15 per cent
Protein availability - Increase 30 per cent
Calcium content - Increase 34 per cent
Potassium content - Increase 80 per cent
Sodium content - Increase 690 per cent
Iron content - Increase 40 per cent
Phosphorous content - Increase 56 per cent
Vitamin A content - Increase 285 per cent
Thiamine or Vitamin B1 content - Increase 208 per
cent
Riboflavin or Vitamin B2 content - Increase 515 per
cent
Niacin or Vitamin B3 content - Increase 256 per cent
Ascorbic acid or Vitamin C content - An infinite
increase
The increase in protein availability is of great
significance. It is a valuable indicator of the enhanced nutritional value of a
food when sprouted. The simultaneous reduction in carbohydrate content
indicates that many carbohydrate molecules are broken down during sprouting to
allow an absorption of atmospheric nitrogen and reforming into amino-acids. The
resultant protein is the most easily digestible of all proteins available in
foods. The remarkable increase in sodium content supports the view that
sprouted foods offer nutritional qualities. Sodium is essential to the
digestive process within the gastro-intestinal tract and also to the
elimination of carbon dioxide. Together with the remarkable increase in
vitamins, sodium materially contributes to the easy digestibility of sprouts. Dried
seeds, grains and legumes do not contain discernible traces of ascorbic acid,
yet when sprouted, they reveal quite significant quantities which are important
in the body’s ability to metabolize proteins. The infinite increase in ascorbic
acid derives from their absorption of atmospheric elements during growth.
Sprouts have several other benefits. They supply food
in predigested form, that is, the food which has already been acted upon by the
enzymes and made to digest easily. During sprouting, much of the starch is
broken down into simple sugars such as glucose and sucrose by the action of the
enzyme ‘amylase’. Proteins are converted into amino acids and amides. Fats and
oils are converted into more simple fatty acids by the action of the enzyme
lipase. During sprouting, the beans lose their objectionable gas producing
quality. Research has shown that oligosaccharides are responsible for gas
formation. For maintenance of health, some amount of gas production is
necessary but it should be within safe limits. As the process of germination
ends and sprouting begins, the percentage of oligosaccharides is reduced by 90.
Sprouts contain a lot of fibre and water and, therefore, are helpful in
overcoming constipation. Sprouts are an extremely inexpensive method of
obtaining a concentration of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. They have in them
all the constituent nutrients of fruits and vegetables and are ‘live’ foods.
Eating sprouts is the safest and best way of getting the advantage of both
fruits and vegetables without contamination and harmful insecticides. It
should, however, be ensured that seeds and dried beans are purchased from a
store where they are fresh, unsprayed and packaged as food. Seeds that are
packaged for planting purposes may contain mercury compounds or other toxic
chemicals.
Source: www.healthlibrary.com through
www.scribd.com
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