Environmental pollution is one of the most critical issues concerning the quality of the environment and threatens the human safety due to bioaccumulation. The extensive application of pesticides causes great public concern about the negative impacts on the environment and human health. Herbicides have been used for weed management and to prevent the yield loss of agricultural products. In recent years, the environment’s quality is extensively considered due to the enormous pesticide application in agroecosystems. There are some different pathways for the degradation of herbicides in the environment, including biodegradation, chemical degradation, photodegradation, uptake by target or non-target plants, adsorption to soil particles and leaching. Assessing the environmental risks of herbicides before mass production, commercialization, and distribution is very important. The presence of herbicide residues in the environment has become a fundamental problem in many countries. Bioassay and analytical methods could identify, detect, and quantify herbicide residues in the environment. In this review paper, the fate, detection methods, and effect of herbicides on non-target plants have been discussed.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) is an annual plant belonging to the family Leguminosae or Fabaceae. The seeds of fenugreek contain 26.8% soluble fiber chemically identified as galactomannans with properties similar to soluble fiber of guar seeds and psyllium husk and so on. Galactomannans are biopolymers consisting of linear core poly (1,4)‐β‐D‐mannan backbone having varying degrees of D‐galactosyl substituents attached by 1,6‐glycosidic linkages. Different galactomannans derived from various legumes usually differ in molecular weight, ratio of mannose to galactose, and the mode and place of linkages of galactose moieties to the mannan backbone. Fenugreek gum has a galactose to mannose ratio of 1:1, showing the highest amount of galactose resulting in its highest water solubility compared with guar and locust bean gum. It suggested that the galactose and mannose moieties are linked uniformly in fenugreek gum resulting in maximum hydration and solubility. This M/G ratio affects the physicochemical properties of galactomannans and is inversely related to the solubility of gum. Galactomannans sterically stabilize the emulsions against flocculation and coalescence by getting adsorbed onto oil droplets. In addition to this, galactomannans are all found to exhibit some surface, interfacial, and emulsification activities. Because of these properties, it is preferred over other natural hydrocolloids as an excellent ingredient for various food applications. As a hydrocolloid, fenugreek gum provides texture, appeal, gelling, thickening, emulsifying, stabilizing, and encapsulating properties. In the present review, we summarized the extraction, purification, chemical, functional properties, molecular structure, thermal and rheological behavior of gum isolated from fenugreek seeds, and then vital application of this traditional source of hydrocolloids in food, pharmaceutical, and other industries.