Abstract

Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a well-known economically viable crop with excellent nutritional qualities.The nutritional potential of flax seed sprouts has not been studied to date. Therefore, the current study was conducted to analyze nutritional qualities of sprouts of three flax cultivars (Rahab-94, Pembina and Linott) and to compare it with those of flax seeds. The results indicated lack of significance difference among the three cultivars for several traits. The sprouts were significantly different for protein with highest protein composition (25.2%) in Rahab-94. Sprouts were rich in glucose (5.1%) and fructose (2.6%) compared to sucrose (0.4%). Significant differences were observed for nitrogen (4.1%), calcium (0.27%), phosphorous (0.72%), zinc (51%), copper (23%) among sprouts of three cultivars. There were no significant differences for potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), boron (B), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) contents among the sprouts of three cultivars. Sprouts had higher protein content (22.3%) and lower crude fiber content (17%) as compared to that of seeds (21.7%, and 19.4%, respectively). Sprouts contained higher total sugars as compared to seeds (8.08% and 2.6%, respectively). The macronutrient and micronutrient compositions were comparatively high in seed and sprout respectively. The micronutrient values were relatively high in sprouts for boron (16.3%), iron (63.4%), manganese (52.9%) and zinc (44.4%). Flax sprouts were a good source of protein, crude fiber, simple sugars and essential micronutrients compared to flax seed and other crop sprouts.

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