Fenugreek?(rigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual plant in the family?Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop, and its seeds are a common ingredient in dishes from?South Asia.
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Fenugreek is believed to have been brought into cultivation in the?Near East. While Zohary and Hopf are uncertain which wild strain of the genus?Trigonella?gave rise to domesticated fenugreek, charred fenugreek seeds have been recovered from Tell Halal,?Iraq, (carbon dated?to 4000?BC) and?Bronze Age?levels of?Lachish?and desiccated seeds from the?tomb?of?Tutankhamen.[2]?Cato the Elder?lists fenugreek with?clover?and?vetch?as crops grown to feed cattle.[3]?In the 1st century AD, in?Galilee, it was grown as a food staple, as?Josephus?mentions it in his book, the?Wars of the Jews.[4]?A compendium of Jewish oral law known as the?Mishnah?(compiled in the 2nd century) mentions the plant under its Hebrew name,?tiltan.[5]
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Major fenugreek-producing countries are?Afghanistan,?Pakistan,?India,?Iran,?Nepal,?Bangladesh,?Argentina,?Egypt,?France,?Spain,?Turkey, and?Morocco. The largest producer is India.?Fenugreek production in India?is concentrated in the states of?Rajasthan,?Gujarat,?Uttarakhand,?Uttar Pradesh,?Madhya Pradesh,?Maharashtra,?Haryana, and?Punjab. Rajasthan accounts for over 80% of India's output.
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