Question
Hi,
I need some good recommendations about websites that contain everything about Alfalfa sprout including how to keep them and what kinds of nutritients do they contain.
Your help will be highly appreciated.
Alice
Answer
Alice,<BR><BR>There is some information on nutritional quality of alfalfa sprouts at:<BR><A href=http://www.annecollins.com/diet_nutrition/beansprouts.htm">http://www.annecollins.com/diet_nutrition/beansprouts.htm</A><BR><BR>Also a precise listing of nutrients at:<BR><A href=http://waltonfeed.com/self/ntr4.html">http://waltonfeed.com/self/ntr4.html</A><BR><BR><BR>Also a study was done on the nutritional quality after irradiating the seeds (which is a process used to keep the seeds from becoming contaminated). Here is one part of the study:<BR><BR><FONT color=#008000>Outbreaks of foodborne illness have been associated with consumption of seed sprouts. This has been due to the presence of a large number of human pathogens in sprouts grown from contaminated seeds. Irradiation effectively inactivated foodborne pathogens in contaminated seeds. The FDA has approved the use of ionizing radiation to control microbial pathogens in seeds for sprouting. However, the nutritional value of alfalfa sprouts from irradiated seeds is not clear. This study was conducted to investigate contents of vitamin C, total antioxidant, carotenoid, and chlorophyll of sprouts grown from irradiated seeds as a function of radiation dose and storage. Our results showed that sprouts grown from irradiated seeds had higher vitamin C and total antioxidant contents compared to those grown from seeds that were not irradiated. The effect was greater at higher radiation doses. The higher nutritional value of alfalfa sprouts was also observed after 21 days storage at 7C. Irradiation had no effect on carotenoid or chlorophyll content. This information is useful for sprout growers. <BR><BR>The rest of the report is at <A href=">http://www.sproutnet.com/Research/quality_of_alfalfa_sprouts_grown.htm">http://www.sproutnet.com/Research/quality_of_alfalfa_sprouts_grown.htm</A><BR><BR></FONT> Given in the text above http://vrd.askvrd.org/services/answerschema.xml
