Daily Times

Fenugreek (Methi in Urdu) is a herbaceous vegetable plant commonly cultivated in Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Southern and Northern Euprope, etc. for use as food. Plant grows up to the height of 40-80 cm with errect setm.

The leaves are compound, trifoliolate and alternate about 7-12 cm long and are green in colour. Its dried leaves and seeds are used as condiment. Botanical name of fenugreek is Trigonella foenum-graecum (greek hay). Leaves have extensive aroma especially the species Trigonella corniculata (Kasuri Methi in Urdu) is famous for its sensational aroma and used in many dishes for this property.

From antient times the herb is in use for curing a variety of ailments like diabetes, obesity, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol levels in blood), cancer, flatulence, liver ailmaents, etc. It has also been reporrted to possess anti-oxident, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory effects. The leaves of fenugreek were found to be highly effective against inflammation, fever and pain assosiated with various diseases including the viral outbreaks.

The only drug of choice for treating fever in viral diseases like dengue fever, measles, mumps, swine flu and now the COVID-19 is the paracetamol without knowing about its side effects. Paracetamol on long term use (more than 10 days) with daily dose of more than one gram adversely effects the liver and kidneys. It further causes lowering of platelets number than normal which are already on lower side in most of the viral diseases.

Hence causes further exaggerating the disease condition. In this context, fenugreek “Desi” breed was evalutaed for its effects on fever, inflammation and pain, induced experimentaly in mice. It was revealed that the plant significantly reduced the inflammation, pain and fever more than the available synthetic pain killers medicines with no adverse effect on liver and kidneys. It was also found to be protective for stomach contrary to the avialbale pain killers which cause ulcer on long term use. It astronishligly increased the platelets counts within normal range, which is depictive of its effectiveness in viral diseases where extensive decrease in platelets count has been observed.

Fenugreek can be a good substitute of synthetic pain killers with no damage to body organs in general and to liver and kidneys in particular. Its platelets enhancing effect can be utilized in dungue fevers and other viral outbreaks where their number is already on lower side. By admitting the importance of herbal drugs many Pharmaceutical Industries have developed their neutraceutical and herbal divisions under the umbrella of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

By considering the health benefits of fenugreek plant, the present need is to develop its dosage forms like pills, syrup, suspension, capsule, etc. for enlistment in DRAP and be used for treating the inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and to manage fever and pain with ease of mind being having no typical side effects. This may bring revolutionary change in the field of medical scicences to cope with symptoms of viral outbreaks.