Review Article - Journal of Primary Care and General Practice (2023) Volume 6, Issue 6

Potential Health-benefits of Millets â??Nutri-Cerealsâ?-A Review

Millets are one of the initial foodstuffs consumed by humans and perhaps the first cereal grain employed in household cooking. Since ancient times, millets have been a primary source of nutrition for the inhabitants in semi-arid tropics in Asia and Africa, where other crops do not thrive. India and Asia have both been major millet consumers for centuries. Millet seeds are ground to create the Indian flatbread known as roti. The area used for millet cultivation has been declining over the previous 50 years, especially since the green revolution period, despite all these outstanding traits and capacity of millet farming systems. The little "grain" is free of gluten and rich in vitamins and minerals. Good quality protein, minerals, dietary fibre, phytochemicals, and vitamins are all abundant in millet grain, which is also extremely nutrient-dense. As compared to rice and wheat, millets' nutritional profiles are examined. Foxtail millet, proso millet, and pearl millet all have protein levels that are higher than those of wheat. Kodo, little, foxtail, and barnyard millet have higher fibre contents. Interestingly, finger millet has 344.00 mg of calcium per 100g. Millets are added to cereal-based food products, which have grown in popularity due to their nutritional and practical advantages. As consumers believe millets and meals made from millet directly affect their health, value-added millet products have the potential to bring value to businesses and have significant growth potential. In order to further raise public awareness of millets' positive effects on health, the UN declared 2023 as the "International Year of Millets." Here in this review article we are discussing about the cultivation, nutritive value, health benefit and the various uses of millets.

Author(s): Sunita Mishra, Rajani Singh

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