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‘Nutri-rich Finger millet value-added products
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Wednesday, 02 March, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Dr S Shamshad Begum1 and Dr S V Suresha2
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fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d India is the largest producer of Finger millet (Ragi) with Karnataka accounting to 58 per cent of the total production. Ragi is an important staple food in some parts of India. It is rich in protein, iron, calcium, phosphorus, fibre and vitamin content. It is a good source of diet for growing children, women, elderly and health-conscious people. Traditionally it is used for preparation of dumpling (mudde), pudding, porridge, roti, ambli and sari. However it can be utilised in myriad forms as this nutri-grain blends with all types of other grains like rice, wheat, bengalgram, greengram, blackgram and it will enhance the nutritional value of other cereal or pulse-based products that are lacking in nutrients especially calcium.
Eleusine coracana (ragi) is an annual plant widely grown in the arid areas of Africa and Asia. Finger millet is native to the Ethiopian Highlands. It is the most important small millet in the tropics (12% of global millet area) and is cultivated in more than 25 countries in Africa (eastern and southern) and Asia (from Near East to Far East), predominantly as a staple food grain. The major producers are Uganda, India, Nepal, and China. The speciality of these tiny deep red pearls is the abundance of nutrients present in them. Finger millet or Red millet is a rich source of calcium, iron, protein, fibre and other minerals and is a gluten-free food. The cereal has low fat content and contains mainly unsaturated fat. It is easy to digest and does not contain gluten; people who are sensitive to gluten can easily consume Finger millet. It is considered one of the most nutritious cereals. The area of cultivation of Finger millet in India is 2.65 million hectare with total production of about 2.9 million tonne and Karnataka is the leading in the production of Finger millet accounting to 58 per cent of the total production of Finger millet.
Due to rich fibre content, Finger millet is believed to be a good laxative and prevents constipation. People who suffer from liver diseases, high-blood pressure, heart weaknesses and asthma should consume Finger millet to ameliorate these conditions. The millet is also advised to a lactating mother if she is unable to produce sufficient milk to feed her infant. Finger millet is considered to be a boon for diabetics and obese people, as the digestion of Finger millet takes place at a slow pace and hence, glucose is released slowly into the blood. Also, this Red millet contains an amino acid known as Typtophan. This compound reduces the appetite, and thus, helps to control your diet. It is specially recommended to kids, as the millet is rich in calcium, and therefore helps in proper growth and development. Being a rich source of iron, Finger millet is good for all those suffering from anaemia. The millet helps to raise the haemoglobin level. It helps to fight malnutrition and degenerative diseases. It also works well as an anti-ageing agent.
Nutritional Value of Finger Millet: Finger millet is often ground to a fine powder and sold. It is depicted that in a 100 gram of Finger millet flour that major portion is carbohydrate (72%), followed by protein and fibre. It has the least amount of fat in them which is good. Protein (7.3g) and fibre (3.6g) content is relatively good with an average of 328 KCal of energy.(Table1)
Table-1 Macronutrients in Ragi
| Macronutrients |
g/100g |
| Moisture |
13.1 |
| Protein |
7.3 |
| Fat |
1.3 |
| Minerals |
2.7 |
| Fibre |
3.6 |
| Carbohydrate |
72.0 |
| Energy |
328Kcal |
| Total dietary fibre |
19g |
Finger millet flour is also a good source of minerals, vitamins and some good number of Essential Amino Acids (EAA) which are essential for human body. Finger millet has highest amount of natural source of calcium (344mg) and vitamins. (Table2)
Table -2: Micronutrients in Ragi
| Minerals |
mg /100g |
| Calcium |
344 |
| Phosphorus |
283 |
| Iron |
3.9 |
| Magnesium |
137 |
| Sodium |
11 |
| Potassium |
408 |
| Zinc |
2.3 |
| Vitamins |
Per 100g |
| Carotene |
42µg |
| Thiamine |
0.42mg |
| Riboflavin |
0.19mg |
| Niacin |
1.1mg |
| Folic acid |
18.3µg |
Finger millet also has some good number of EAAs which are essential for human body. Few of the key EAAs are Valine, Methionine, Isoleucine, Threonine and Tryptophan. (Table3).
Table-3 Essential amino acids in Ragi
| Essential amino acids |
mg/g N* |
| Arginine |
300 |
| Histidine |
130 |
| Lysine |
220 |
| Tryptophan |
100 |
| Phenylalanine |
310 |
| Methionine |
210 |
| Threonine |
240 |
| Luecine |
690 |
| Iso Luecine |
400 |
| Valine |
480 |
*Approximate total nitrogen is 1.17g/100g.
Valine is essential for repair of tissues, muscle coordination and metabolism and also helps maintain balance of nitrogen in the body. It also help promote mental calmness and enhance maintain mental vigour.
Isoleucine is essential for ensuring blood formation, keeping a check on blood sugar levels. It also helps heal and repair muscle tissues, bones and skin.
Threonine helps maintain protein levels in the body. It also helps formation of tooth enamel, also prevents formation of fat in the liver.
Tryptophan acts as natural relaxant and help fight anxiety, depression and insomnia. It also helps in treating migraine headaches. It reduces excess appetite and help control weight gain. It helps in the release of growth hormones.
Methionoine is a sulphur-based amino acid which is essential for various activities in human body. It is said to help promote growth of healthy skin and hair. The Sulphur which we get from Methionine helps produce a substance called lecithin which helps reduce cholesterol, reduce fat inside the livers and help protect kidneys. This methionine is generally lacking in staple diet of some of the vegetarians and hence regular Finger millet intake will help get enough of these amino acids.
Health Benefits of Finger Millet
Weight management: Finger millet contains an amino acid called Tryptophan which lowers appetite and helps in keeping weight in control. It gets digested at a slower rate thus keeps one away from intaking excessive calories. Also, fibres present in this give a feeling of fullness thus controls excessive food consumption.
Bone health: Finger millet is rich in calcium which helps in strengthening bones. It is an excellent source of natural calcium for growing children and aging people. Millets consumption helps in development of bones in growing children and in maintenance of bone health in adults. It keeps diseases such as osteoporosis at bay and could reduce risk of fracture.
Diabetes: Finger millet’s phytochemicals help in slowing digestion process. This helps in controlling blood sugar level in condition of diabetes. In a study conducted in 2000, it was found that Finger millet-based diet helps diabetics as it contains higher fibre than rice and wheat. Also, the study found that diet based on whole Finger millet has lower glycemic response i.e. lower ability to increase blood sugar level. This is due to presence of factors in Finger millet flour which lower digestibility and absorption of starch.
Lowering blood cholesterol: Finger millet contains amino acids Lecithin and Methionine which help in bringing down cholesterol level by eliminating excess fat from liver. Finger millet also contains Threonine amino acid which hinders fat formation in the liver, which brings cholesterol level of the body down. Amino acids aid tissue repair and healing.
Anaemia: Since ragi is rich in iron, it is prescribed for those who are anaemic or have low haemoglobin counts, and for new mothers. It is a source of vitamin C which aids iron absorption.
Osteoporosis and Arthritis: Calcium is recommended for healthy and strong bones. People with osteoporosis and arthritis are asked to add ragi to their diet. It is also recommended for people with vitamin D deficiency.
As infant food: Ragi is traditionally given to infants in the form of ‘Ragi Sari’ that is refined ragi flour which has abundance of both macro and micronutrients like Protein, Carbohydrates, Calcium, Phosporous, Iron which helps for the growth and development of the infants.
Ethnic and novel products like Ragi-based beverages like Ragi-malt drink, Ragi- ambli and Ragi nutri-drink, Steamed products like Ragi-banana halwa, Ragi-dhokla, Ragi-Idli, Ragi-kadabu. Fried products like Ragi-chakli, Ragi-mixture, Ragi-Shankarpoli and Baked products like Ragi sponge cake, Ragi-coconut cookies, Ragi-chilly biscuit, Ragi-baked nippattu . ‘Nutritional and Health benefits of Ragi and Ragi-based nutri-rich recipes’ for the benefit of people of all age groups like infants, adolescents, adults and geriatrics.
Hence, if consumed regularly in our diet, this nutri-grain could help in keeping malnutrition, degenerative diseases and premature ageing at bay. With the changes in scenario of utilisation of processed products and awareness of the consumers about the health benefits, the focus has to be given on processing, value addition and effective utilisation of the nutri-rich grain. If the utilisation of Finger millet is more by consumers, even farmers will be benefited to a great extent. And if the processing of Ragi is done, it will help them greatly to fetch higher profit instead of selling Ragi directly in the market and thus aids them to be sustainable. Hence, processing of Finger millet can be done to prepare value-added products to take up as an enterprise and also for the benefit of domestic consumption.
(Begum is assistant professor, food science & nutrition, and Suresha is co-ordinator, Bakery and Value Addition Centre, UAS, Bangalore. She can be contacted at drshamshaduas@gmail.com)
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