Millet a Nutri-cereal: Nutritional Value, Health Benefits and Value Addition in Dairy Products

Author: Sujith S., Soumyadish Sahoo, Cheeti Dheeraj, Magham Sathya Hemanth, Sudipa Saha, Atreyee Sarkar and Nupur Niharika

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Abstract

Millets valued for their nutritional value includes vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and dietary fibres source and potential health benefits. This review highlights the potentials of millets as a source of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals in dairy products, thereby improving the nutritive value of dairy products. Millets are a rich in dietary fibre, calcium, iron, zinc, lipids and high-quality proteins. Millets are loaded with phytochemicals that have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular, diabetic, celiac and gastrointestinal diseases. Utilization of millets in dairy products in the form of millet milk powder, ice-cream, kheer, paneer and the novel technologies related processing of these products are discussed. The main challenge faced by the dairy products are the lack of fibre, especially dietary fibre. Blending millets with the dairy products can solve this problem to a greater extent.Various positive evidences of inclusion of millets in dairy products to enhances the nutritional and functional properties of dairy products, with potentials reduction of digestive disorder such as lactose intolerance because of its rich dietary fibre and phytochemical content. Overall, to increase awareness about production and consumption of millets address food security to millions of households and contributes to the economic efficiency of farming.

Keywords

Millets, health benefits, nutritional value, dietary fibre, dairy products

Conclusion

Millet is crucial for a flexible and diverse modern agricultural system that meets nutritional needs sustainably. Millet benefits health and provides income. Increased millet production and consumption in India will impact dairy industry. Although millet has health benefits, taste is crucial in determining if people eat it. This indicates that health awareness alone won’t encourage the consumption of millet. Therefore, there is a need for appetizing millet dairy products and other recipes. Adding millet to packaged foods benefits farmers and promotes mechanization to ease traditional processing. Government should incentivize millet cultivation with specific policy measures. Millet is a staple food for millions in poverty-stricken Asia and Africa. Millets are filling, high in carbs and can compensate for a lack of lysine in other protein sources. Expanding millet use depends on improving its characteristics. Millet consumption in industrialized countries will likely contribute to an industrial revolution.

References

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How to cite this article

Sujith S., Soumyadish Sahoo, Cheeti Dheeraj, Magham Sathya Hemanth, Sudipa Saha, Atreyee Sarkar and Nupur Niharika (2023). Millet a Nutri-cereal: Nutritional Value, Health Benefits and Value Addition in Dairy Products. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(5): 1008-1017.