Conventional measurements used to study consumer response to food products may be subject to cognitive bias, as measurement data was consumer’s reported thoughts or through questionnaires. Therefore, for an unbiased approach electroencephalography (EEG), an electrophysiological method can provide implicit and extensive data. EEG uses electrical activity of brain to record and explain perceptive, attentive as well as emotional processes of consumer towards foods. The asymmetry of EEG signal between right and left hemispheres of anterior (frontal lobe) or posterior (parietal and occipital lobe) parts of brain can be used to determine acceptability of stimuli in a stimulated person. The accurate measurement through EEG enables marketers to compare consumer response to different marketing stimuli and impact moments associated with particular product or brand for better positioning of product in market.

Millets being climate resilient crops with high nutritional value are far better than staple grains like wheat and rice. Being adaptable to wide range of agro ecological conditions, the nutricereals little millet can grow on low fertility dry lands meeting demands of exploding population and providing solution to agrarian and nutritional challenges the world is dealing with. Further, value addition could be a strategic intervention in popularization of underutilized small millets and transform the billions of people from nutrient insufficiency to nutrient adequacy. The present fast-paced era with increased nuclear families and changing eating habits due to rapid urbanisation and globalisation demands for development of ready to consume nutrient dense food. In addition, growing awareness regarding health benefits of millets demands for millet-based designer foods to meet diversified needs of consumers. In view of these aspects, a ready to reconstitute (RTR) little millet smoothie mix was developed and tested for its suitability to blend with fruit juices through sensory profiling. The nourishing little millet and fruit-based smoothies would be a healthy inclusion in one’s daily diet with a great market potential.

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Convenience foods are the now a big trend in the food business. The Indian ready to eat (RTE), ready to cook (RTC) and ready to serve (RTS) food segments have emerged from its early days of being a fringe alternative to home cooked meals or eating out. The underutilised little millet like other nutricereals is nutritionally superior to regularly consumed cereals. Malting of little millet enhances the digestibility, reduces the antinutritional components and can provide appropriate food-based strategy to derive nutrients maximally. Hence, a ready to reconstitute (RTR) smoothie mix was developed with a malted little millet that promotes the incorporation of nourishing drinks in daily diet. The suitability of mix to blend with fruit pulps viz. banana, papaya and pineapple in 1:1 and 1:2 ratio was assessed for its sensory parameters. The results revealed that the best scores for sensory attributes were for 1:1 blend except for appearance. Further, the overall acceptability scores of banana, papaya and pineapple smoothies on a hedonic scale of 9.0 were 8.37±0.09, 8.17±0.07 and 8.27±0.08 respectively indicating that the evaluated pulpy fruits were suitable for preparation of RTR smoothies.

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