Millets- Health Benefits and Processing Methods Tanvi Bansal1 and Asha Kawatra2 1 Ph.D Scholar and 2 Professor 1&2Department of Foods and Nutrition, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, India. Abstract Millets represent the major source of dietary energy and protein for more than a billion people in the semi-arid tropical regions. These are nutri cereals that includes pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet (major millets) foxtail, proso, kodo, little, and barnyard millet (minor millets). They are profoundly nutritious, non- glutinous and non acidic nourishments. They contain high amounts of dietary fiber, B-complex nutrients, essential amino acids, vitamin E and unsaturated fats. They are especially high in minerals, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and delivers lesser amount of glucose over a longer time frame causing satiety which brings down the danger of diabetes (low glycemic index foods). The challenge is to food-process millet in to tasty and ready to eat foods like biscuits, noodles and and as Ready to eat and Ready to cook novel foods that could help millet growers to fetch better income. In order to keep up the momentum and the sustainability of commercialization process, entrepreneurship development of the stakeholders is necessitated through interventions in food processing and product development and nutritional evaluation. Keywords: Millets, Health benefits, Nutritional information, Value added products, Food processing method, Product development. Introduction Millets are important food and fodder crop in the semi-arid tropics of the world and grows in both kharif and rabi seasons. These grains represent the major source of dietary energy and protein for more than a billion people in the semi-arid tropics. Millets are nutri cereals comprising of pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet (major millets) foxtail, proso, kodo, little, and barnyard millet (minor millets). Millets are the super foods for the present and future, their short growing season and ready to harvest plants make them commercially sound. When properly stored, whole millets can be kept safely for almost two or more. The challenge is to food-process millet in to tasty and ready to eat foods like biscuits, noodles and and as Ready to eat and Ready to cook novel foods that could help millet growers to fetch better income. In order to keep up the momentum and the sustainability of commercialization process, Entrepreneurship development of the “Advance Research in Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences” ISBN: 978-81-948426-5-1 119 Tanvi Bansal and Asha Kawatra stakeholders is necessitated through interventions in food processing and product development and nutritional evaluation. Figure 1 : Millet grains Nutritional and health benefits of millets Millets have been considered to be staple diet and a wage earner for farmers especially in the semi-arid regions. They are profoundly nutritious, non- glutinous and non acidic nourishments. They contain high amounts of dietary fiber, B-complex nutrients, essential amino acids, vitamin E and unsaturated fats. They are especially high in minerals, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and leads to lesser release of glucose over a longer time frame causing satiety which brings down the danger of diabetes (low glycemic index foods). These grains are high in sugars, with protein content shifting from 6 to 11 percent and fat changing from 1.5 to 5 percent. Millets were indeed one of the oldest foods known to humans but they were discarded in favor of wheat and rice with urbanization and industrialization. Therefore, the ultimate goal of entrepreneurship development programmes is to disseminate thorough knowledge of post-harvest management which includes linkage of farmers with market, processing and nutritional importance of millets. “Advance Research in Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences” ISBN: 978-81-948426-5-1 Millets- Health Benefits and Processing Methods 120 Table 1: Nutritional composition (per 100g) Source : Indian Food Composition Tables, NIN – 2017 and *Nutritive value of Indian foods, NIN – 2007 Millets are also rich sources of phytochemicals and micronutrients. Phytochemicals such as β-glucan, phenolics, resistant starch, lignans, sterols, inulin, phytates, and carotenoids. Phenolic acids and tannins are the main polyphenols, while small quantities of flavonoids are present; they act as immune system by playing many roles in the body, being antioxidant. One of the major factor behind complication of ageing and diabetes, is the reaction between the aldehyde group of reducing sugars and the amino group of proteins, termed as non-enzymatic glycosylation. Effects of migraine and heart attack are reduced by millet consumption as these are good sources of magnesium and these grains being rich in phyto-chemicals containing phytic acid have research based evidences for lowering cholesterol. Table 2: Health benefits of millets Health Disorder Potential Assistance Properties of millet Anemia Enhancing the level of Hb High iron and Zinc content “Advance Research in Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences” ISBN: 978-81-948426-5-1 121 Tanvi Bansal and Asha Kawatra Constipation Reducing the problem of constipation High fiber Cancer Anti carciogenic property, Reduce the Antioxidant property, risk of tumor development high flavonoids Diabetes Anti-diabetic Low glycemic index Celiac disease Anti allergic Gluten free Diarrhoea Act as Probiotic Lactobacillus Non Inhibits DNA scission, LDL Flavonoids, Omega 3 Communicable cholesterol, liposome oxidation and fatty acids Diseases proliferation of cancer cells. Processing of Millets Improvement in human nutritional status of the nation cannot be separated from agriculture. To make the right nutritious food available to consumers, processing of grains plays the vital role as only the palatable products are accepted and eaten by the maximum population in the long run. Processing of grains and millets assumes noteworthy job during its use as food. Innovative technologies are utilized for attaining edible form of grain and accordingly improving its quality. Different conventional strategies for preparing are still generally utilized, especially in parts of the semi–dry tropics where millet is grown essentially for human utilization. Most traditional processing techniques are laborious, monotonous, time- consuming, and manual. Traditional techniques that are commonly used include soaking, decortication (usually by pounding followed by winnowing or sometimes sifting), malting, germination, fermentation, roasting, flaking and pounding. Minor millets can be consumed by processing them into rice, flour, sprouting, roasted, popped, salted ready-to-eat grains, porridges and fermented products. The main purpose of processing is to minimize the qualitative and quantitative deterioration of the material during post-harvest. The millet processing operations mainly involves: ▪ Primary processing Purification of raw materials by removing foreign matter, immature grain and making into the suitable form for secondary processing through “Advance Research in Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences” ISBN: 978-81-948426-5-1 Millets- Health Benefits and Processing Methods 122 grading, destoning and dehulling. The bulk operations of these processes can be done mechanically. Primary processing of the grain is removal of impurities, foreign and contaminants from the grain that are necessary to improve the storage capacity of the grain and consumer acceptability for usage. ▪ Secondary processing Processing of primary processed raw material into product which is suitable for food uses or consumption such as Ready-To-Eat (RTE) and Ready-To- Cook (RTC) products, which minimizes the cooking time and make it convenience foods. Significance of Processing Intervention and Value added Products Low-availability of RTE and RTC millet based food items in market contributes to the lower consumption of millets. This situation was seen to be proportional to the increase in production expenditure and increased income is accompanied by increased consumption of wheat and rice, as products made from these cereals are easy to prepare and have better keeping quality. Simultaneously, individuals have expanded their propensity to eat a more prominent variety of foods. The possibilities of technological change could maybe change the situation for increased production and utilization of millet. Inspite of high nutrient profile, pearl Millet faces the following major constraints in its utilization: • Rapid change in food habits • Easy access to rice and wheat through PDS • Presence of coarse fibrous seed coat, coloured pigments, astringent flavour and poor keeping quality of the food products • Drudgery in processing millet • Absence of appropriate processing technologies to yield shelf stable products • Nutritional characters of millets are less exploited for commercialization - lack of awareness about the health benefits “Advance Research in Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences” ISBN: 978-81-948426-5-1 123 Tanvi Bansal and Asha Kawatra • Utilization of millets for food is still mostly confined to the traditional consumers due to the non-availability of these grains in ready-to-use or ready-to-eat forms • Poor status attached, Neglected marketing & policy front- Lack of assured procurement and non-supply of millets under PDS, Non- availability of HYVs, quality seeds of small millets, low marketed surplus- lack of continuous supply chain management. Taking due consideration of the present