Germination, or sprouting, begins with a whole and healthy seed. Raw seeds hold vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals in a dormant state to protect themselves until it can safely grow into a plant.
Unlike highly processed or refined grains, sprouting is a form of positive processing where nothing is removed from nutrient-rich seeds and only water is added.
At Second Spring, we carefully source all of our organic grains and seeds to ensure they are the highest quality.
Just like in nature, a seed only germinates and thrives when it has the right moisture, oxygen and temperature. To kick-start the sprouting process, seeds are exposed to clean, fresh water.
While the process is always the same, each variety of grain or bean is unique, so soaking times will vary. Once seeds reach the ideal soaking time, we drain the water and sprouting begins.
We specially designed our sprouting process to reduce the amount of water we use, giving you a sustainable product you can feel good about.
When growing conditions are optimal, the seed bursts into action. Enzymes unlock nutrients that were safely stowed away, causing many biochemical changes and altering the seed’s nutrient profile.
Raw grains, seeds and beans naturally contain anti-nutrients like phytic acid, but soaking and sprouting helps to break these down. Also during this time, enzymes convert complex carbohydrates into simple sugars and dense protein into smaller amino acid chains. It’s important to note that a nutrition facts panel will not reflect these structural changes.
There are also vitamin and mineral changes, but in varying degrees among different seed varieties and sprouting times. As a result, vitamin changes is a vast and complex topic (and even more complex in how this relates to human digestion). For more specific information, visit our resources page.
We stop the sprouting process at different times for different seeds in order to maximize nutrition, digestion and function.
Next, we carefully dry the seeds to preserve their sprouted goodness and make them self stable. Drying does not affect the molecular changes that occured during germination.
A large sprout may not always be visible, but the important part is that raw grain goes through a slow soaking and sprouting period. The sprouted grain, not the sprout itself, holds the nutrition.
Sprouted seeds can be left whole or finely milled to create one of our sprouted flours. We mill the entire grain to produce soft, versatile, nutrient-rich and 100% whole grain flours.
