The minor millets or small millets have been renamed as “Nutri-cereals” in India. Nutri-cereals are extraordinarily tolerant to drought and other abiotic stresses, such as high temperatures and poor soils and also require minimum inputs for the growth. This makes them “climate smart” and a good source for genetic traits that can strengthen the resilience of other crops in the face of climate change. In developing countries, lack of dietary diversity is one of the key factors behind malnutrition and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes. Dietary fibre, minerals, carotenoids, flavonoids and polyphenols are abundant in nutri-cereals cultivars and consumption of these traditional nutri-cereals cultivars, on the other hand, benefits human health. Now-a-days, traditional varieties are gaining importance and it is cultivated by a large number of farmers. These varieties play a major role in the history of crop improvement and seed production. Hence, an experiment has been conducted to analyse the biochemical properties viz.,-amylase activity, dehydrogenase activity and total phenol content. Among the nutri-cereals tested, high -amylase activity and dehydrogenase activity were recorded by Periyurvathalmalai local (1.80 mg maltose min-1) and Varagu PGR (0.280) in Proso milletand Kodo millet respectively. The total phenol content was maximum in Varagu PGR (Kodomllet)with 17.58 µg /100g. Among the twelve traditional variety, Varagu PGR (Kodomllet) have the high secondary metabolites with improved seed quality. The results of this experiment revealed that the above traditional varieties have to be conserved to preserve its precious genome information due to their superior performance of -amylase activity and dehydrogenase activity as well as maximum phenol content.

Traditional nutri-cereals, -amylase activity, dehydrogenase activity, Total phenol content.

The present study emphasized on α-amylase activity, dehydrogenase activity and total phenol content of traditional nutri-cereals of Tamil Nadu. The α-amylase and dehydrogenase activity in traditional nutri-cereals seeds are important biochemical traits responsible for improving seed germination, vigour and viability, respectively. Total phenol content is the secondary metabolites which is responsible for playing a key role in pigmentations, plant growth and resistance to pathogens and antioxidant activity. Regarding the significance of consumer preference of traditional nutri-cereals, the information about these enzyme activities could aid in the conservation and multiplication of seeds and ultimately leads to increase in consumption. Among the twelve varieties, Varagu PGR (Kodomllet) have the high secondary metabolites with improved seed quality can be considered for future use in breeding programme.

Jalapathi E., R. Jerlin, K. Raja, M. Raveendran and V. Thiruvengadam (2022). Evaluation of Biochemical properties of Traditional Nutri-cereals of Tamil Nadu. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(2): 527-531.