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Wheat is considered nutritionally poor, due to deficiency of essential amino acids such as lysine and threonine, whereas fenugreek (Trigonella faenum graecum L.) flour has a high protein content (25 per cent), lysins (5.7g/16gN), soluble (20 per cent) and insoluble (28 per cent) dietary fibre besides being rich in calcium, iron and beta‐carotene. Fenugreek seeds contain 20 per cent soluble fibre (gum), which can act as functional agent in wheat dough. The presence of bitter saponins in fenugreek seeds limits their acceptability in foods. However, it has been possible to debitter fenugreek seeds by using various domestic processing methods. Therefore, their use can be exploited as functional and nutritional food as well as therapeutic agents. Hence, in the present study efforts have been made to develop wheat‐fenugreek‐based health bread.

In commonly grown varieties of wheat, namely WH‐423, and fenugreek namely Pusa, early bunching was obtained. Fenugreek seeds were divided into three portions. One portion was left unprocessed (raw), while the other two portions were soaked (12hr at 37^○C) and germinated (48hr at 37^○C) separately. Soaked and germinated samples were dried at 55‐60^○C. Dried samples of raw, soaked and germinated seeds were ground to fine powder. Fenugreek seed powder (raw, soaked and germinated) was blended separately with wheat flour at different levels, namely 5, 10, 15 and 20 per cent. Breads from control and supplemented flours were baked in replicates. Baking, organoleptic and nutritional characteristics were analysed in the control and supplemented breads. The data were statistically analyzed in complete randomized design for analysis of variance according to the standard method.

Supplementation of wheat flour with fenugreek flour from 5 to 20 per cent levels increased the protein, lysine, minerals and fibre contents of bread. Additions of fenugreek (raw, soaked and germinated) up to the level of 15 per cent produced bread with a satisfactory loaf volume and other sensory quality attributes (crumb colour, crumb texture, taste etc.), whereas the 20 per cent level of supplementation caused a depression effect in loaf volume and the breads were found to be bitter in taste, However, among the various supplemented breads, germinated fenugreek flour‐supplemented bread at 15 per cent level showed satisfactory baking and organoleptic characteristics and contained an appreciable amount of protein (24 per cent), total lysine (3.02g/100g protein), dietary fibre (12.04 per cent) and minerals.

Fast food are becoming as popular, as in developing countries. Keeping this fact in view, in the present study, health breads were prepared. The developed product had good acceptability, was nutritionally rich and had therapeutic value. So, these can be considered for commercialization.

As fenugreek seeds contain 20 per cent soluble fibre (gum), and 5.7g/16gN lysine contents, the soluble fibre of fenugreek seeds has been reported to reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Therefore, their use can be exploited in the development of health foods.

The purpose of the paper was to assess the functional properties vegetable gourds & the validated health claims so as to help the future researchers to locate the gaps. However, emphasizing on the scientifically available reports was required to make information available in a nutshell to the health-conscious consumers, as well as the researcher from the area of functional foods and nutrition.

The paper is a mini-review of scientific findings in different studies on gourd vegetables. The approach to information collection was finding the research gaps and potential areas for future work with a nutritional perspective.

Ash gourd, bitter gourd and bottle gourd have been extensively studied, and several health benefits and functional components have been reported, while ridge gourd, snake gourd and pointed gourd have been sparsely studied for their therapeutic benefits and the validation thereof; hence, there lies a scope for researchers.

The scarcity of scientific reports compared to the traditional usage and folkloric beliefs was a limitation.

Understanding the nutritional potential of gourd vegetables from scientific reports may influence both the work areas and consumers in the appropriate direction.