Nutritional Significance and Usage of Garden Cress Seeds ( Lepidium sativum L )-A Review

Garden cress seeds are traditionally used in some geographic regions as functional food. In some parts of India, it is given to pregnant and lactating mothers as milk-based beverage. It is used in salads, soups and smoothies in western countries. Although garden cress seeds packed with nutrients, comprehensive research on all the nutrients information (both macro and micro nutrients) was needed. Understanding the nutritional benefits can help in development of food products and extending the usage to other geographical areas. The present review tries to explore the nutritional composition of this less familiar food. 100 g of garden cress seeds provide 445.18 kcal of energy, 24.11 g protein, 24.12 g fat, 9.01g fiber. In addition, Garden cress seeds also provide calcium (320.45mg/100g), magnesium (353.87mg/100g), phosphorus (619.82mg/100g), potassium (1141.67mg/100g) and iron (11.70mg/100g). Many food scientists have incorporated the seeds in local recipes and they are found to be acceptable by the sensory panel. Scaling up and commercialization of these products is needed to popularise the usage of these seeds. As garden cress seeds are rich in micronutrients and help in combating micro nutrient deficiency.


INTRODUCTION
Garden cress is an annual, fast-growing edible herbaceous plant that belongs to the Brassicaceae family and hence shares many characteristics with mustard and watercress 1 . There are 12 different species of garden cress seeds of which Lepidium sativum L is commonly used 2 . Garden cress plant is cultivated in India, North America, parts of Europe and it is native to southwest Asia and Egypt 3 . Garden cress can be grown and harvested at any time of year, but the months of January, February, and November are the best for sowing in a Mediterranean climate 4 . Garden cress grows very quickly in the early spring season 5 . The plants are ready to cut in 15 to 20 days after seeding 6 . It's a glabrous, upright, branching plant. Seeds are small, oval-shaped, pointed, triangular at one end, smooth, about 2-3 mm long and 1-1.5 mm wide, reddish-brown, with an arrow present on both surfaces, reaching up to two-thirds downwards, and slight wing-like extension present on both edges of seed when soaked in water (Fig 1) 7 . Micropyle and grove in between can be observed in the lateral and dorsal aspects of the seeds 8 . Seeds display testa, radical, and cotyledon in both transverse and longitudinal sections 9 . The cotyledon, radical, and superior portion lobes of the cotyledon are visible in the embryo. The crop is mostly grown for seeds 10 . The methodology used for this study was online search from the secondary sources. Research publications of last 20 years were reviewed for the study.

Nutritional Composition of garden cress seeds Macronutrient Composition
The macronutrient composition of garden cress seeds is presented in Table 11. On an average garden cress seeds provide 445.18 kcal/100g of energy 2 . The protein content varies from 22 to 25.5g/100g 3 . It is also a good source of fat (24.12g/100g) and dietary fiber (9.01g/100g) 4 . The low moisture content is responsible for its stability, quality, and also good shelf life 5 . Macronutrient composition varies depending upon plant variety, agronomic practices and stage of harvest, climatic and geographical condition of the area from where seeds are collected 6 . Dietary fiber (g) 11.9 ± 0.4 7.6 11.9 NA 8.27 8.27 9.01

Amino Acid Composition
The amino acid composition of garden cress seeds is presented in Table 2 1 . Both essential and non-essential amino contents per 100g are shown in Table 2

Mineral Composition
The mineral composition of garden cress seeds is presented in   (2015) were evaluated by a sensory panel 6 . Mathri, a Rajasthani snack, flaky biscuits prepared using wheat flour, pearl millet flour, and rice flakes were developed by Priyanshu Tripathi et.al. (2017) by incorporating 10 to 30 per cent garden cress seeds 7 . The level of incorporation and maximum accepted level of incorporation of garden cress seeds (per cent) in dessert/side dish/snack products are shown in Table 5 and Table 6 8 . The products were found to be acceptable by the sensory evaluation panel.  Raita(Mamta Sharma 2015) 8,10,12 10 6.

Processing Methods
The common methods of household processing in case of garden cress seeds include soaking, boiling, and roasting (Table 7 1 ). Gurpreet Kaur et.al. (2016) studied the influence of processing on nutritive value. They found that soaking increased protein content, while it was reduced by boiling and roasting 2 . Boiling and roasting raised the fat content but soaking reduced fat content 3 . Boiling increased fiber content followed by soaking, and roasting decreased the fiber content 4 . Soaking increased the ash content, while roasting and boiling reduced it 5 . When garden cress seeds were roasted and boiled, the calcium content was increased, but when the seeds were soaked the calcium content was decreased6. Roasting increased the iron content of garden cress seeds followed by soaking and boiling 7 . The processing methods such as roasting and germination was shown in Table 8 8 . Rajashri and Haripriya (2018) found that nutrient profile and development of muffins by germinated garden cress seed powder were better accepted compared to roasted seeds 9 . Different processing methods such as soaking, germination, boiling, and roasting have been used in preparing garden cress seed-based products such as burfi10. Shekhara Naik R et.al.(2020) found that soaking and germination of the seeds were more acceptable compared to boiling and roasting 11 .

Nutritive value of Garden Cress Seeds incorporated products
Nutritive value of maximum accepted garden cress seeds incorporated traditional products shown in Table 9 1 . The energy content varies from 65.63 to 569.89g/100g and protein content varies from 2.81 to 14.47g/100g 2 . Garden cress seeds are a good source of iron and calcium 3