Whole grains of rice [improved: Bw 361 (red) and Bg 359 (white); traditional: Kalu Heeneti (red) and Suwadal (white)], corn, finger millet, wheat, barley and oat were used in this study. Ethanolic extracts (EEs) and methanolic extracts (MEs) of whole grain cereals were evaluated for total polyphenolic content (TPC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging antioxidant properties (AP) in vitro (n=3 each). Results showed significant differences (p<0.05) between extracts and among cereals for investigated AP. In general, MEs of cereals showed significantly higher (p<0.05) activity compared to EEs of cereals. Among the studied cereals, finger millet exhibited the highest AP in both extracts for TPC, FRAP and ORAC while for DPPH and ABTS it's only in MEs. The mean TPC, FRAP and ORAC of MEs of finger millet were 708.45 ± 11.72 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE), 1413.69 ± 1.61, 1240.45 ± 67.38 mg Trolox equivalents (TE) and 955.76 ± 2.03 mg TEjl00 g grain, respectively while for EEs it was 275.36 ± 4.26 mg GAE, 606.34 ± 5.00 mg TE and 1112.52 ± 24.38 TEjl00 g grain respectively. For DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities the IC50 values of MEs of finger millet were 49.42 ± 6.65 and 10.74 ± 0.44 IlgjmL respectively. Ofthe cereals analyzed the second highest AP was observed in traditional red rice variety, Kalu Heeneti (except for ORAC) for both extracts tested. Whole grains of wheat and oats had very low AP compared to finger millet and red rice varieties analyzed in the present study. It is concluded that finger millet possesses highest AP.

Soluble, insoluble and total dietary fiber contents, rapidly and slowly digestible starch contents, arabinoxylans, β-glucans, fructans, resistant starch, amylose and total sugar contents, minerals and trace elements compositions and proximate compositions of three finger millet varieties, namely Ravi, Rawana and Oshadha, were evaluated using standard protocols. There were no significant differences (P ≥ 0.05) among the rapidly digestible starch, arabinoxylans, β-glucans, fructans, amylose, total sugar, protein, crude fat and crude fiber contents of Ravi, Rawana and Oshadha varieties. Total dietary fiber contents varied between 13.01% (Ravi) and 13.79% (Oshadha). Slowly digestible starch contents ranged from 43.38% (Ravi) to 49.15% (Oshadha) and resistant starch contents ranged from 3.75% (Ravi) to 4.58% (Oshadha). Ash content of Ravi (3.22%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than ash contents of other two varieties. Average sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc and phosphorous contents of three finger millet varieties were 12.04, 141.78, 407.15, 345.62, 3.49, 1.89 and 331.07 mg/100 g, respectively. Findings of the present study indicated that studied finger millet varieties were good sources of dietary fibers (including resistant starch) as well as minerals and trace elements (especially potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron) when compared to commonly consumed cereals such as rice and wheat.

The prevalence of inflammatory-mediated and oxidative stress-associated diseases is increasing worldwide, creating an increasing demand for novel sources of anti-inflammatory agents and antioxidants. This study was focused on determining the in vitro arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase (A5-LOX), xanthine oxidase (XO), hyaluronidase and oxidative burst inhibitory activities, and antioxidant properties of Ravi, Rawana, and Oshadha finger millet varieties using ethanolic and methanolic extracts. Among all extracts, the methanolic extract of Oshadha exhibited the highest A5-LOX (IC50 value: 484.42 μg/ml) and XO (IC50 value: 764.34 μg/ml) inhibitory activities. All extracts showed less than 50% hyaluronidase inhibitory activity at 1 mg/ml concentration. Methanolic extracts showed moderate inhibitory potential on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated from whole blood phagocytes, with IC50 values ranging between 26.9 and 27.7 μg/ml, when compared to ibuprofen (IC50 value: 11.18 μg/ml). All extracts showed potent inhibition of ROS produced from polymorphonuclear neutrophils isolated from human blood when compared to ibuprofen (IC50 value: 2.47 μg/ml) and IC50 values of methanolic and ethanolic extracts ranged from 0.29 to 0.47 μg/ml and 1.35 to 1.70 μg/ml, respectively. All extracts had significantly high amounts of phenolic compounds including flavonoids and the potential to scavenge 2,2 ′ -azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic) acid (ABTS) cation, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), and oxygen radicals. Besides, they were able to reduce metal ions and chelate metal ions terminating radical generating reactions. This is the first report of A5-LOX, XO, hyaluronidase, and oxidative burst inhibitory properties of any extract of any finger millet variety cultivated in Sri Lanka. The findings revealed the potential of using these finger millet extracts as natural sources of anti-inflammatory drug candidates. Additionally, the findings indicated that Ravi, Rawana, and Oshadha varieties are good sources of antioxidants. Therefore, consumption of these finger millet varieties on a regular basis may play an important role in the prevention and dietary management of oxidative stress-associated diseases.

Replacing the ingredients used in biscuits with potential nutritive ingredients would be beneficial to improve the nutritional quality of the biscuits. Although, finger millet is highly nutritious when compared to other most commonly consumed cereals, limited availability of processed food products in ready-to-eat form has restricted the finger millet consumption. The present study was focused on formulating biscuits by replacing refined wheat flour with finger millet flour. Four biscuit samples were formulated by replacing different percentages of refined wheat flour with finger millet flour. Physicochemical and microbiological properties of the biscuits were evaluated. Nutritional and antioxidant properties of the biscuit, which was formulated by replacing 50% of refined wheat flour with finger millet flour, were evaluated and compared with a control biscuit which was prepared using refined wheat flour. The finger millet flour incorporated biscuit was nutritionally superior to the control biscuit in terms of dietary fibers and polyphenolic compounds including flavonoids. Besides, replacement of refined wheat flour with finger millet flour in biscuit formulation enhanced the antioxidant properties of the biscuit. Therefore, the finger millet flour incorporated biscuit can be considered as a good source of antioxidants.

Aim: This survey was conducted to evaluate Sri Lankans’ awareness and attitudes towards finger millet and preferences towards finger millet-based foods. Methodology: Pre-tested, self-administrated questionnaires were formulated in the three main languages used in Sri Lanka, namely Sinhala, English and Tamil. The questionnaires consisted of different sections to obtain data on respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, health and food related lifestyles, attitudes towards finger millet and preferences towards finger millet-based food products.  Printed and online forms were distributed covering all 25 districts from August to November in 2017 and after excluding incomplete responses 1016 respondents were selected for the study. Data were analyzed using Frequency analysis and Chi-square analysis. Results: Although the majority of the respondents (57.5%) were aware of the nutritional value of finger millet, a considerable percentage of the respondents have stated that they are not aware of the nutritional value. The majority of the respondents who were suffering from non-communicable diseases rarely added finger millet to their diets. The majority of the respondents (66.6%) liked to consume finger millet regardless of gender, age, educational level and residing district. However, limited availability of finger millet flour incorporated food products in ready-to-eat form has restricted their regular finger millet consumption. Only 33.9% of the respondents were aware of the finger millet flour incorporated food products currently available in the local market. The majority of the respondents wished to purchase finger millet flour incorporated novel ready-to-eat products to increase their finger millet consumption. Conclusion: The findings evidently indicated the importance of educating the general public on nutritional value and various health benefits of finger millet. Further, the findings revealed the necessity of effective advertising and promoting approaches for the finger millet flour incorporated products currently available in the local market and reflected market opportunities for novel finger millet flour incorporated ready-to-eat products.

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The emerging significance of natural antimicrobial agents creates an imperative need to identify novel plant sources with antimicrobial activities. The objective of the present study was to evaluate antibacterial, antifungal and β-lactamase enzyme inhibitory activities of ethanolic and methanolic extracts of Ravi, Rawana and Oshadha finger millet varieties. Flours of whole grains of the finger millet varieties were extracted with absolute ethanol and methanol separately. Antibacterial activities against six antibioticsensitive and four antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacterial strains were evaluated using the resazurin reduction assay. Antifungal activities against six antimicrobial-sensitive pathogenic fungal strains were evaluated using the agar tube dilution method. β-Lactamase enzyme inhibitory activity was evaluated using a standard method. Both ethanolic and methanolic extracts of the three finger millet varieties showed dosedependent inhibitory activities against the tested antibiotic-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains while exhibiting high inhibitions against Gram-positive antibiotic-sensitive bacterial strains when compared to Gram-negative antibiotic-sensitive bacterial strains. The findings revealed the antibacterial potential of both ethanolic and methanolic extracts of the three finger millet varieties against antibioticsensitive Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC ® 6538™) and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC ® 23857™) strains and the minimum inhibitory concentrations of the extracts against S. aureus and B. subtilis were found to be 2.1 and 1.8 mg/ml, respectively. However, none of the extracts can be considered as significantly active against the tested antibiotic-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains when compared to the standard drugs. In addition, none of the extracts can be considered as active against the tested fungal strains at the tested concentrations. Nevertheless, all extracts showed more activities against the tested bacterial strains when compared to the tested fungal strains. Since all extracts showed less than 40% β-lactamase inhibitory activities even at 2 mg/ml concentration, they do not qualify as promising sources of β-lactamase inhibitors at the tested concentration.