Dr. Dhanashree B. Kulkarni
M.Tech. Food Technology
PhD in “Value addition of Millets
Millets, a generic term used to represent a diverse group of versatile, small sized, one of the oldest grains that can be grown in wide ranges of environmental conditions and less susceptible to pest and disease. Millets are sustainable and hence considered as crop of food security. Millets can be grown in hilly lands where other cereals are difficult to grow. In general, millets are well adapted to low rainfall (300mm). Millets are early maturing grains (3-4 months) and required low capital investment. These qualities make them good contingent crops.
Today millet ranks sixth most important grain in the diet of Africa, India, northern China, Japan, Manchuria and Egypt. The crops have long history of cultivation in the past and thus play an important role in our traditional food culture. Even though the contribution of small millets is only about 2.5 %, the importance lies in the ecological niche where other foods are difficult to grow. Millets are superior in many nutritional components compared to most widely consumed rice, wheat and maize. Millets contribute towards balanced diet and ensures nutritional security more through regular consumption.
Gaps in millet production and consumption
As per his findings of the researchers, Millet products are having high price affecting buying decision. The demand and availability of minor millet products are very low compared to major millets. Most of the respondents taken for study preferred products on the basis of flavor and color. Therefore, the color and flavor characteristics of millet-based products should be enhanced to increase consumer acceptance.
The possible reasons of gaps in millet production and utilization are 1) Rapid urbanization, 2) Changing consumer preferences due to rising per capita incomes, 3) Low marketed surplus due to low remuneration to the farmers, 4) Supply chain issues, 5) Less Government subsidies, 6) More remuneration to cash crops, 7) Poor social status, 8) Inconvenience in preparation of value added products, 9) Lack of incentives for millet production, 10) Lack of processing technologies and equipment and 11) Lower shelf life of milled grains and flour of millets, etc.
Proximate composition of millet grains
Health benefits of millets
Millets are rich in complex carbohydrates, high in proteins, low in fats or high in good fats, high in fibers, vitamins and minerals and rich in phyto chemicals. These qualities leads to various potential health benefits. Epidemiological studies have showed that consumption of millets reduces risk of diabetes, heart disease, improves digestive system, lowers the risk of cancer, detoxifies the body, increases immunity in respiratory health, increases energy levels and improves muscular and neural systems and are protective against several degenerative diseases such as metabolic syndrome and parkinson’s disease. Millets acts as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-ulcerative, anti-cancer and wound healing.
Hence, tremendous attention has been given to millets due to their potential health benefits to humans.
Millets based value added food products
Millets based value added food products There are hundreds of different recipes made from millets by both rural and urban communities. Millets are consumed primarily in the form of Roti, composite flour, porridge, steam-cooked products, puffed and popped snacks, papad, chakli, bread as well as substitute to rice (Chandrasekara and Shahidi, 2011). Most popular among them are idli, dosa, and upma. Composite flours can also be used in the traditional recipes of tribal community. It is possible to obtain different blends of economic, nutritional and organoleptic considerations after processing like hand pounding, shifting, wetting, milling and parboiling, etc. In spite of the amazing nutritional characteristics of millet grains, the region under millet production has been decreasing over the last few decades. The reason behind this may be lack of knowledge about nutritional value, technological gap in the recommended package of practices, lack of processing techniques, low market surplus, changes in consumption preferences, etc.
The way forward
Advances in value addition technologies have made it possible to process various value added products acceptable to both rural and urban consumers. Development of health foods and their commercialization should receive focused attention. Thus, it can be concluded that different millets could be used for the development of various value added food products. The developed millet based value added food products are techno economically feasible and have better commercial application in the food processing industry.