Sprouting - Seeds Suitable For Sprouting

Seeds Suitable For Sprouting

All viable seeds can be sprouted, but some sprouts should not be eaten raw. The most common food sprouts include:

• Pulses (legumes; pea family):

alfalfa, clover, fenugreek, lentil, pea, chickpea, mung bean and soybean (bean sprouts).

• Cereals:

oat, wheat, maize (corn), rice, barley, rye, kamut and then quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat (these last three are used as cereal even if botanically they are not)

• Oilseeds:

sesame, sunflower, almond, hazelnut, linseed, peanut.

• Brassica (cabbage family)

broccoli, cabbage, watercress, mustard, mizuna, mustard, radish and daikon (kaiware sprouts), rocket (arugula), tatsoi, turnip, watercress.

• Umbelliferous vegetables (parsley family) - these may be used more as microgreens than sprouts.

carrot, celery, fennel, parsley.

• Allium (onions) - cannot really distinguish between microgreens.

onion, leek, green onion (me-negi in Japanese cuisine)

• Other vegetables and herbs:

spinach, lettuce, milk thistle, lemon grass

Although whole oats can be sprouted, oat groats sold in food stores, which are dehulled and require steaming or roasting to prevent rancidity, will not sprout. Whole oats may have an indigestible hull which makes them difficult or even unfit for human consumption.

All the sprouts of the solanaceae (tomato, potato, paprika, aubergine or eggplant) and rhubarb cannot be eaten as sprouts, either cooked or raw, as they can be poisonous. Some sprouts can be cooked to remove the toxin, while others cannot.

With all seeds, care should be taken that they are intended for sprouting or human consumption rather than sowing. Seeds intended for sowing may be treated with chemical dressings. Several countries, such as New Zealand, also require that some varieties of imported edible seed be heat-treated, thus making them impossible to sprout. Quinoa in its natural state is very easy to sprout but when polished, or pre-cleaned of its saponin coating (becoming whiter), loses its power to germinate.