Finger millet for food and nutritional security

Abstract

Finger millet is amongst the major crops of Uttaranchal. Over the years there has been rapid decline both in production and consumption of millets. Chemical composition of finger millet revealed that total carbohydrate content of finger millet has been reported to be in the range of 72 to 79.5%. Finger millet has nearly 7% protein but large variations in protein content from 5.6 to 12.70% have been reported by various studies. Total ash content is higher in finger millet than in commonly consumed cereal grains. The ash content has been found to be nearly 1.7 to 4.13% in finger millet. Calcium content of 36 genotypes of finger millet ranged from 162 to 487 mg %. Singh and Srivastava (2006) reported the iron content of 16 finger millet varieties ranged from 3.61 mg/100g to 5.42 mg%. Finger millet is the richest source of calcium and iron. Calcium deficiency leading to bone and teeth disorder, iron deficiency leading to anemia can be overcome by introducing finger millet in our daily diet. Maximum utilization of the nutrient potential of the millet is limited by the presence of phytates, phenols, tannins and enzyme inhibitors but their effect can be reduced by using processing techniques like popping, roasting, malting and fermentation. The use of these techniques not only decreases the content of antinutrients but increases the bioavailability of certain minerals like calcium and iron. Composite flours made by using finger millet can be used for preparation of various nutrient dense recepies which can be effectively used for supplementary feeding programs.

Processing, nutritional composition and health benefits of finger millet in sub-saharan Africa

“…Lupoko, mawele, amale, bule, kambale, majolothi and bulo. Singh & Raghuvanshi (2012), Blench (2012). South Africa Mufhoho (Venda), Uphoko (OsiZulu), osgras (Afrikaans), mpogo (Pedi), majolothi (Ndebele).…”

“…However, vitamin C is absent in the dried grain (Siwela, 2009). Finger millet grains contain 44.7% of essential amino acids (Singh & Raghuvanshi, 2012) including methionine, cysteine and tryptophan (Jideani, 2012;Manjula et al, 2015;Ramashia et al, 2018), lysine (Mamatha & Begum, 2013); isoleucine, leucine and phenylalanine (Sood et al, 2017) as well as threonine (Table 5) which helps to lower cholesterol levels and reduce risk of cancer and obesity in the human body (Mathanghi & Sudha, 2012;Thapliyal & Singh, 2015). The grains contain the highest amount of methionine (194 mg/g) when compared to other millet species Prashantha & Muralikrishna, 2014).…”

“…Milling is mostly done to remove the fibrous coarse bran or the seed coat of the grains. Furthermore, removal of some phytochemicals such as phytates and tannin during milling improves the bioavailability of iron (Singh & Raghuvanshi, 2012). Table 7.…”

“…Puffing or popping is a traditional method used for producing ready-to-eat and stable shelf-life products which are crunchy and porous (Singh & Raghuvanshi, 2012;Dutta et al, 2015). Puffing also involves soaking whole unhusked grains in water and mixing with sand heated at 250 °C for 15-60 s. (Sarkar et al, 2015;Thapliyal & Singh, 2015).…”

Harnessing Finger Millet to Combat Calcium Deficiency in Humans: Challenges and Prospects

“…For example, finger millet tannins are effective in reducing pre- and post-harvest losses as they provide protection against molds, insects and other abiotic stress (Gull et al, 2014). Similarly, phytic acid acts as the main phosphorus store for the seeds (Singh and Raghuvanshi, 2012). These compounds have also called attention due to their nutraceutical value and protective effects against many chronic diseases (Kumar et al, 2016a).…”