Why did some leaves of my fresh Fenugreek turn yellow after a few days of purchase, and how to prevent the leaves from turing yellow?
5 days after I purchased fresh Fenugreek, I noticed some of its leaves turned pale yellow.
What does that indicate, and how to prevent it (if it is a bad thing)?
The Fenugreek was placed as a tied bundle on the kitchen counter for 5 days.
Best Answer
It's a sign that chlorophyll, the substance that enables photosynthesis and gives the plant is green colour is fading from the plant due primarily to lack of water and nutrients. When chlorophyll fades you're left with the underlying colour of the leaves.
It's simply a sign that water is evaporating from the leaves.
If you don't like the yellow colour, just remove those leaves, it doesn't have any effect on the overall flavour or usefulness of the herb.
The only way to prevent it, is to keep the stems in a glass of water, which helps to preserve the chlorophyll, but it won't do so forever, eventually the leaves will still turn yellow. However, if you're trying to dry the leaves that's rather counter-productive!
Pictures about "Why did some leaves of my fresh Fenugreek turn yellow after a few days of purchase, and how to prevent the leaves from turing yellow?"
Why is my fenugreek turning yellow?
Just as too much or not enough light can cause yellowing seedling plants, too much or too little water or fertilizer could also be the problem. If the soil around your plants has been completely dried out between waterings, your seedlings are probably just thirsty.How do you keep fenugreek fresh?
Wrap in a paper or cheesecloth and store in refrigerator. The whole idea is to prevent excess moisture in the leaves. You may also store in air-tight zip lock/box. This will help you keep the leaves fresh for almost a week.How do you keep leaves from turning yellow?
Houseplant Help: How to Save a Plant Whose Leaves are Turning...Can I use yellow methi leaves?
Fenugreek has a strong, pleasant and a peculiar odor. Indians like the fresh leaves, which are eaten for their taste. Always select bunches that are fresh and green in colour. Avoid if they are yellow or very dry textured.Why leaves are turning yellow I How To Fix It
More answers regarding why did some leaves of my fresh Fenugreek turn yellow after a few days of purchase, and how to prevent the leaves from turing yellow?
Answer 2
When you buy it, the fenugreek is almost certainly still alive, even if the roots have been cut off. It continues to respire and metabolize, or tries to. The leaves almost certainly wilted because the plant had no water.
Treat it like flowers if you are going to hold it for a more than a day or two, by giving it water at the roots or root end of the stems (if you have no roots, again like flowers, trim off the bottom of the stem, to allow a fresh surface to absorb the water). This technique also works with celery (very well, in fact), parsley, cilantro (eeew!!!) and so on.
Answer 3
- First, you pluck out the thin tiny stems along with leaves from the thick stems. The bitter, thick stems are discarded, no second thoughts.
- Second, if you have to use the fenugreek leaves right away for cooking, give the leaves a quick water bath inside one bowl of water, then dip them in another bowl of clean water. Give a swirl, you know, with your fingers. Pick the leaves, the way you’d pick small fishes in net for your aquarium? These can now be used for you to cook.
- Third, instead of cooking right away if you want to store fenugreek leaves for longer, don’t wash them – wrap the plucked out leaves inside a newspaper (good idea) or paper towel (better idea) and inside a Ziploc or plastic bag. Measure like I did, if you want. I did not know what the opposite of ‘washed leaves’ would be, so I wrote ‘unwashed’.
It’s not a word I know, but do what works, hehe!
These will store well for over two weeks.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: icon0.com, Artem Beliaikin, Pixabay, Artem Beliaikin