ABSTRACT:
Background: Spices, herbs, and seeds possess antioxidant activity and can be applied for prevention of lipid peroxidation in biological systems. Ethiopian Abish (Trigonella foenumgraecum) is an important spice; the flour of dried seed has wide application in food and beverages as a flavoring additive as well as in medicines. Objective: Ethiopian Abish seeds are reported to be limited to re-generational purpose in Ethiopia while majority are discarded as unfit. For this purpose the present studies were carried out to evaluate the effect of soaking and blanching on the yield, proximate composition and antioxidant activity of Ethiopian Abish seed flour. Methods: Pre-treatment by soaking and blanching with proximate analysis as well as antioxidant activity assay were carried out. Results: The results were found to increase the yield which was time dependent. The range mean obtained for protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, moisture and fiber contents were 61.1–53.99, 16.06–10.08, 15.92-8.33, 4.95–4.58, 10.95-9.99 and 2.76–2.10 respectively. Slight but significant DPPH radical scavenging activity increase was observed in soaked samples at 18th-h while blanching resulted into progressive decrease. Conclusion: Ethiopian Abish seed is a promising source of protein content and is a potent free radical scavenger.