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 :

i.        Grains : Wheat, maize, ragi, bajra and barley.

Seeds : Alfalfa seeds, radish seeds, fenugreek seeds, carrot seeds, coriander seeds,

pumpkin seeds and muskmelon seeds.

ii.       Legumes : Mung, Bengalgram, 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 does milk. They are high in letichin, 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. Soyabeans 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 upto 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

metabolise 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.

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