Sprouts and a Healthy Diet

Sprouted seeds, legumes and grains are a cheap and easy way of increasing your intake of vitamins and minerals. Germinating seeds and grains increase their nutritional value. The vitamin C content of wheat increases sixty percent during sprouting.

Sprouts are easy to grow in a sprouting tray or jar, at any time of the year. To sprout seeds take as many as you wish to sprout and place in a jar with lukewarm water and leave overnight. The next day drain and rinse them and the jar and then put them back in the jar, covered with cheese cloth and secure with a rubber band. The seeds should be rinsed twice a day. Depending on the type of seed, they take about two to four days before ready to eat. The best seeds to sprout are alfalfa, chickpeas, mung beans, lentils, fenugreek and wheat.

Mung beans are an important constituent of human diets in Central, Southern and Eastern Asia and have been cultivated in this region for centuries. Mung beans provide a major source of protein in cereal-based diets. The dried seeds may be eaten whole or split, cooked or fermented, milled and ground into a flour. Whole or split seeds are used to make dhall, soups, and curries and are added to various spiced dishes.

Germinated mung bean sprouts are extensively used in Chinese cooking and are becoming popular in Western countries where they are used as a garnish in mixed diets or as a valuable source of protein in vegetarian diets.

Mung beans, apart from being a good source of protein in the diets of millions of people also contain useful amounts of fiber, potassium, and B vitamins. They contain low levels of fat, cholesterol and sodium. The total phosphorus content of the seed is relatively high, but much of this is present as phytate. The phytate ion complexes with zinc, calcium, magnesium and iron making insoluble compounds that are not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Germination, soaking fermentation and cooking all reduce the effect of phytate in legumes.

Mixtures of mung beans and cereals give a more balanced amino acid profile and biological value than the two foods separately. Cooking and processing generally improve the protein quality.

Dried mung bean seeds can be stored for long periods of time and sprouts can easily be obtained by germinating the seeds in the dark for up to 4 days. Sprouting does not require soil or direct sunlight and is not limited to seasonal growth. Large amounts of sprouts can be obtained in a relatively short time. Some vitamins are synthesized in the germinating seeds and sprouts are a very cheap source of vitamins.

Germination of mung beans for 48 hours results in significant reductions in the phytate and tannin contents with a consequent increase in the ionizable iron content.

Blanching has very little effect on amino acid, protein and lipid contents of sprouted seeds. Blanching also has little effect on the total carotenoid content of sprouts, but results in a 50% loss of vitamin C. Canning and bottling sprouts also leads to considerable losses of vitamin C.



An increased consumption of mung bean sprouts, particularly by people consuming Western type diets, could have a significant effect on cardiovascular disease, which is a major problem for these people. An increased consumption of plant seeds would provide a more economical way to feed people than via the animal industry. [Savage, G.P. Nutritional Value of Sprouted Mung Beans, Nutrition Today, Vol 25:3, June 1990.]