HealthyLife is a part of www.WeRIndia.com, an all India – centric website (https://healthylife.werindia.com) and is solely owned and operated by WeRIndia.com. It is a Indian nutritional portal providing educational articles.This nutritional port was launched on February 5th, 2015.
Little Millet
Little Millet (Panicum miliare) commonly known as Gundali or Goudli is one among the minor millets grown to a limited extent all over India up to altitudes of 2100 m. This crop can be well adopted to different types of soil. Storage of the seeds is easy and grains have excellent storage properties in any conditions. It is a relative of proso millet, but the seeds of little millet are much smaller than proso millet. It is one of the important crops that has been around more than 5000 years and is good source of food, fodder and nutritional securities at both farm and regions.
Because of low carbohydrate content, slow digestibility, and low water-soluble gum content little millet has multiple health benefits. The complex carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, antioxidant content present in them helps to prevent metabolic disorders like diabetes, cancer, obesity etc.
Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is an underutilized crop which is highly nutritious cereal grain used for human consumption, bird seed, and/or ethanol production. Grains of proso millet are a rich source of vitamins (niacin, B-complex vitamins, folic acid), minerals (P, Ca, Zn, Fe) and essential amino acids (methionine and cysteine), starch, and phenolic compounds like antioxidants and betaglucans.
Seeds also contain components with healing benefits, which decrease the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in blood and injury to the liver and high lecithin content which supports the neural health system.
Image credit: Jschnable, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In India, Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) grown mostly in the Deccan region and the cultivation extends to the foothills of Himalayas. Kodo millet is rich in dietary fiber and minerals like iron, antioxidant.
The phosphorus content in kodo millet is lower than any other millet and its antioxidant potential is much higher than any other millet and major cereals, higher amount of antioxidants helps against oxidative stress and maintain glucose concentrations in type 2 diabetes Kodo millet is useful in curing asthma, migraine, blood pressure, heart attack and atherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease and for postmenopausal in women.
Barnyard millet (Echinochloa crus-galli, E. colona), is a short duration crop that can grow in adverse environmental conditions with almost no input and can withstand various biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition to these agronomic advantages, the grains are valued for their high nutritional valueand lower expense as compared to major cereals like rice, wheat, and maize.
It contains a rich source of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and, most notably, micronutrients like iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) that are related to numerous health benefits. All these features make barnyard millet an ideal supplementary crop for subsistence farmers and as an alternate crop during the failure of monsoons in rice/major crop cultivating areas.
Image credit: https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/, Eat India right
Foxtail millet (Setaria italicaL.) an annual grass plant, produces seeds that possess health-promoting properties owing to its unique protein composition containing a high content of essential amino acids. It is one of the earliest cultivated crops, extensively grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of Asia and Africa, as well as in some other economically developed countries of the world where it is more commonly used as bird feed.
Antinutrients like phytic acid and tannin present in this millet can be reduced to undetectable amounts by using the proper processing methods. Additionally, the millet is said to have antioxidant, low-glycemic index,and hypolipidemic properties.
Image credit: STRONGlk7, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana), often known as ragi in India, stands unique among the cereals such as barley, rye and oats with higher nutritional contents and has outstanding properties as a subsistence food crop. It is rich in calcium, dietary fiber, phytates (0.48%), protein, minerals and phenolics. It is also a rich source of thiamine, riboflavin, iron, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine and other essential amino acids.
The abundance of these phytochemicals enhances the nutraceutical potential of finger millet, making it a powerhouse of health benefiting nutrients. It has distinguished health beneficial properties, such as anti-diabetic, anti-diarrheal, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, antitumorigenic, anti-atherosclerogenic effects, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Finger_millet_3_11-21-02.jpg (CC not required) , Eat India right
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) commonly known as the “King of millets’, is a highly productive crop plant, which can be used for grains, livestock feed or industrial purposes. It is one the oldest millet that is used as food. It is widely grown in India and Africa.
Sorghum and their products have high nutritional value and shown to have antioxidant, anti-obesity,anti-diabetic, anti-cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities. It is good for hair growth, helps in weight reduction, good for heart health.
However, sorghum have some limitations due to the presence of some antinutritional factors such as tannins, phytates, trypsin inhibitors, and protein crosslinker. Technological processing such as soaking, germination, fermentation, thermal processes, irradiation, and others are suitable ways for removing or reducing anti-nutritional factors and for improving sorghum quality, and producing foods.
Image credit: Daniel Georg Döhne (user Bugdream), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) has been used as food thousands of years. Nearly 90 million people use Pearl millet as staple grain. It contains more nutrients than wheat and rice. It is one of the gluten free food and gained popularity in western countries in past two decades.
Pearl millet is found to be beneficial in the process of weight loss due to its high fiber content and ability to prolong satiety. It has been found that due to its high fiber content it reduces the risk of occurrence of gall stone It is also a rich source of calcium and phosphorus which helps to attain peak bone density. It is also good for women who suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome. Fights heart burn, increases lung function, good for eyesight, prevents hair loss.
