Generally, heat and γ‐irradiation techniques are used in the preservation of millets. Therefore, the effect of heat (150°C to 170°C for 90 s at 300 rpm) and γ‐irradiation (1 kGy and 2.50 kGy) on fungal load, pasting, and rheological characteristics of three whole and dehulled millets (sorghum, foxtail millet, and pearl millet) was investigated during storage (90 days). The findings showed that the pasting (e.g., pasting temperature, peak viscosity, and peak temperature, etc.) and rheological (e.g., storage modulus, loss modulus, and yield point, etc.) properties decreased during 90 days of storage. The results indicated that the heat and γ‐irradiation collectively reduced the fungal load (154 × 104 to 3.58 × 104 CFU/g) on the whole and dehulled millets. Therefore, the study concluded that the heat and γ‐irradiation may improve the millets storability and seems to be a promising postharvest preservation method to reduce fungal incidences in millet‐based products. Practical applications The study evaluated the effect of heat and γ‐irradiation on pasting, rheological, and microbiological (total fungal count) characteristics of whole and dehulled millets (sorghum, foxtail millet, and pearl millet) during 90 days of storage. The heat and γ‐irradiation improved the storability properties of millets by reducing fungal growth. Thus, heat and γ‐irradiation treatments could be an alternative and safe postharvest preservation method in grain storage industries to reduce fungal incidences.
Millets are important food crops in food systems and application of physical treatments could improve the functional properties of millet-based products. Therefore, we investigated the effect of heat and γ-irradiation treatments on the pasting, rheological, and microbial load of whole and dehulled millets (sorghum, foxtail millet, and pearl millet). Moreover, similarity in treatment effect was evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA). The results revealed the significant ( p < 0.05) decrease in pasting properties of whole and dehulled millets, except for pasting temperature (71.03 to 74.88 °C). Likewise, significantly ( p < 0.05) decreased tendency was observed for all rheological properties, except for phase angle (0.05 to 0.30°) and yield point (13 to 5089). Samples showed a significant ( p < 0.05) reduction in fungal growth (89.75 × 104 to 4.46 × 104 CFU/g) compared to control (110.30 × 104 CFU/g). Moreover, samples individually formed 3 clusters (clusters 1: sorghum, 2: pearl millet, and 3: foxtail millet) based on pasting properties, which was confirmed by PCA. Therefore, the findings concluded that the effect of heat and γ-irradiation would be necessary to decrease pasting, rheological, and no microbial growth characteristics of dehulled and whole millets for the development of specific millet-based food products.
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