Introduction:
Millets are ancient small grains grown in arid and semiarid regions of the world. They are staple food for many people in Asia and Africa. They are abundant sources of minerals and vitamins, giving them the name Nutri Cereals.
Moreover, millets contain valuable phytochemicals that impart therapeutic properties for various disorders and diseases, thus giving them nutraceutical value. A wide array of biochemical compounds are present in the plant parts as well as the grains. In the oldest texts of medicine in India and China, millets are mentioned for use for their medicinal value. There has been expanding interest and emerging facts about millets and their therapeutic uses. Ample evidence shows that consumption of millets amounts to correction of lifestyle and metabolic disorders.
Types:
Major millets – sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet
Minor millets – foxtail millet, little millet, kodo millet, proso millet, brown top millet, fonio, teff, and barnyard millet
The Major millets can be used directly after harvest and cleaning.
The minor millets need primary processing for gentle removal of the outer layers of grain that also contain many antioxidants.
Evidence from tradition:
- Research reveals that millets were consumed in the Indus valley civilization, flourishing from 3,300 to 1,300 BC.
- Millets were cultivated as summer crops along with rice and tropical pulses at early settlements in the Indus zone. This is the evidence for millet consumption in the pre-Vedic period (before 1700 BC)
- Millets are drought resistant. So they were cultivated by Harappans in the peripheral region due to the fall in monsoons.
- Vedas are considered the oldest repositories of knowledge, and millets are mentioned in various instances
- The Indian scriptures, the Puranas, also mention many wild and cultivated millets used for rituals and as food and fodder
- The use of millets like thinai (foxtail millet) was famous in many dishes during the Chola era (9th century).
- Sorghum is used in the marriage rituals of Telangana state of India till today.
- As per Charaka Samhita, a prominent treatise of Ayurveda, millets are said to be, kashaya (astringent) and madhura (sweet) in taste, light in digestion, aggravating vāta, and pacifying kapha and pitta.
- The excessive consumption of kodrava (kodo millet) and uddālaka (vanakodrava, wild Kodo millet) is said to cause raktapitta (bleeding disorders) in Garuda Purana.
- In China, millets are considered a sacred crop. The leader of the Shang Dynasty in the 2nd millennium BC was known as Hou Chi ‘The ruler of Millet.’
- In traditional Chinese medicine, millet is mentioned as cooling and diuretic, strengthens kidney energy and builds yin fluids, moistens dryness. Thus, making them perfect food to consume during the summer months, and in preparation for the autumn.
Nutritional profile:
- 65–75% carbohydrates
- 7–12% proteins
- 2–5% fat
- 8–15% fiber
- Higher content of essential amino acids compared to conventional cereals.
- Prolamin in millets increases the digestibility of proteins
Millets- nutrient supplement:
Macro-nutients:
- Millets stand out among cereals due to their high levels of dietary fiber, antioxidants, and proteins.
- Millet grains primarily consist of carbohydrates with varying amounts of proteins, fats, and dietary fiber.
- Starch is the major carbohydrate in the grains and controls millet digestion and glycemic response.
- Protein content ranges from 6 to 13%, proso millet and foxtail millet being the richest sources.
- Millet proteins have a relatively high content of essential amino acids such as lysine, methionine, and cysteine.
- Millet grains contain moderate levels of fats, typically ranging from 2 to 8% of the grain weight, pearl millet being the richest.
- Millet fats have unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid and oleic acid, contributing to nutritional value and health benefits.
- Quantity of dietary fiber in millet is almost double that in rice and comparable to whole wheat.
- Dietary fiber in millets consists of both soluble and insoluble fractions; the soluble fibers, including β-glucans, arabinoxylans, and pectins; and insoluble fibers, such as cellulose and hemicellulose.
- Pearl millet and finger millet are prominent sources of dietary fiber.
Micro-nutirents:
- Millets are also rich in micronutrients like calcium (10–348 mg/100 g), iron (2.2–17.7 mg/100 g), zinc (0.4 –2.8 mg/100 g), and phosphorus (189–293 mg/100 g), vitamins such as thiamine (0.15–0.60 mg/100 g), niacin (0.89–4.6 mg/100 g), and riboflavin (0.9–0.28 mg/100 g).
- Pearl millet has the highest iron content of 5–6.5 mg/100g.
- Finger millet is one of the richest vegetarian sources of Calcium (300–350 mg/100g), which is almost 10 times that in wheat.
- Secondary metabolites in millets are phenolics (phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins), phytosterols, and policosanols that serve as antioxidants and minimize free radical damage to the body.
- The B group of vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, are rich in millets.
- Sorghum grain is a rich source of micro and macro nutrients offering potential health and therapeutic benefits
Lifestyle change by Millets:
- Consumption of millets helps in preventing metabolic disorders and in correction of lifestyle disorders.
- Administered as food and it becomes easy for consumption and the bioavailability will be more.
- Supplementation of diet with millets shows improvement in health and performance including anaemia.
- Regular supplementation of multi-millet health mix (kodo millet, little millet, foxtail millet, finger millet, and wheat with the inclusion of pulses) to primary school children in India showed a positive effect in increasing the anthropometric indices.
- A randomized clinical trial program through a food based approach using pearl millet ladoo (Indian sweet) showed a significant rise in mean hemoglobin (Hb) levels of adolescent girls.
- Dietary supplementation of adolescent school girls with finger millet porridge improved hemoglobin levels.
Correcting lifestyle disorders with millets:
- WHO says, 22.3% of all children under 5 years faces stunting issue globally.
- At the same time, obesity and NCDs (non-communicable diseases) are on the rise.
- As per WHO, NCDs kill around 41 million people globally of which cardiovascular diseases account for the maximum number of deaths (17.9 million) followed by cancers (9.3 million) and diabetes (2 million) (30).
- About 16% of adults aged 18 years and older worldwide are obese and the worldwide prevalence of obesity in adults as well as children has more than doubled over the last three decades (31).
- Among NCDs diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and cancer stand at the top, the others include gut health impairment, obesity, thyroid dysfunction etc.
- As per WHO estimates NCDs are responsible for almost 74% of all deaths globally.
The alarming data compiled above has made the scientific community dig out the benefits of Millets – tagged germ from an old museum!!
Effect on Type 2 Diabetes:
- Hypo glycemic effect in millets are,
- proportion of low digestible starch fractions
- potency of phenolics in limiting carbohydrate digestion
- ability to reduce the reactive oxygen species (ROS),
- increase in the abundance of probiotic bacteria, activation and /or inhibition enzymes
- regulate various signalling pathways.
- Phenolics from sorghum and finger millet have inhibitory effects on starch-digesting enzymes like salivary and pancreatic α-amylases and α-glucosidase, which effectively reduce post-prandial blood glucose levels.
- Polyphenol-enriched extract from pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) inhibits key enzymes involved in postprandial hyperglycemia (α-amylase, α-glucosidase) and regulates hepatic glucose uptake.
- Millets were effective in curing diabetes-associated complications such as cataracts, dermal wounds, fatty liver, etc..
Millets for cardiovascular diseases:
- Millets consist of higher sterols and pinacosanols, which prevent cholesterol synthesis.
- Phenolic extract of kodo millet was effective in inhibiting the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and liposome.
- Sorghum has a high level of fibre in the diet. It decreases cholesterol uptake, binding bile acids in the small intestine and preventing them from entering the blood-stream. This helps in prevention of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, and stroke.
- Millets mitigate atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk by,
- lowering insulin resistance
- better glycemic control
- lowering non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
- lowering BP
Anti-hypertensive properties of millets:
- Millets, being a good source of hypotensive components such as dietary fibre, protein, minerals, and other phytochemicals. It is a promising diet for hypertensive individuals.
- Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure values show reduction with the whole foxtail millets diet in mild hypertensive patients.
Millets for thyroid gland function and combating obesity:
- Manganese is essential for thyroid hormone homeostasis and sorghum is its rich source. It helps in proper regulation of the thyroid gland promoting weight loss through regulating fat metabolism.
- Sorghum grain starch has 1.2-fold higher amylose than other fine cereals. So it id advantageous for obese and diabetic people.
- Strongly interacting with amylose Polymeric tannins from sorghum modifies starch. Small intestine cannot digest it and it reaches the large intestine, delivering the health benefits of dietary fibre.
Effect of millets on gut microbiome:
- Dietary fiber component in millet comprises 15–20% and contains non-starchy polysaccharides, arabinoxylan, and β-glucan.
- Insoluble fibers, such as cellulose and hemicellulose, add bulk to the stool and aid in regular bowel movements.
- Soluble fibres, including beta-glucans, arabinoxylans, and pectins, have gel-forming properties and exert various physiological effects.
- They exhibited gel-forming properties by absorbing water. This increases food viscosity, inhibiting macronutrient absorption, lowering dys-lipidemia and the postprandial glucose response.
- Soluble dietary fibers reduce bile acid absorption in the small intestine (ileum) and increase bile acid excretion. It results in enhanced hepatic bile production utilizing intracellular cholesterol and lowering blood cholesterol levels.
- Insoluble dietary fibers (cellulose and hemicellulose) are more susceptible to colonic fermentation by the gut microbiota. They have a beneficial effect on insulin sensitivity.
- Insoluble fibres remove toxins from the digestive system, improve the fecal volume and intestinal transit by enhancing water-holding capacity.
- Prebiotic-resistant starch is resistant to enzymatic digestion. It increases the proportion of beneficial microorganisms such as probiotic Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Akkermansia.
- Finger millet is high in microbiota-accessible dietary fibre, and implicated in the anti-diabetic and anti-obesity properties.
- The millet bran fraction has a significant amount of dietary fibre that is not easily digestible.
- Effect of milling on the fiber components of foxtail millet shows, the insoluble dietary fibre was lower in the milled fraction than that of whole millet flour. But the fiber content of foxtail millet increased significantly with increasing germination time.
Effect of millets on gut-brain axis induced satiety:
- Gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication pathway connecting the gut and the brain.
- Gut microbiota influenced by dietary factors including fibre intake, plays a crucial role in modulating brain function and mental health.
- Millets, rich in dietary fibre, impact mood, cognition, and behaviour.
- Gut microbiota produce a wide range of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). They can influence brain function and behaviour.
- Butyrate produced by fermentation in the intestine can cross the blood-brain barrier and exert neuroprotective effects. It promotes brain health and potentially influencing mood and behaviour.
Millets for colon health:
- Peptic ulcer disease also known as gastric ulcers, is a common disorder causing gastric mucosal injuries. It is due to an imbalance between the defensive and the aggressive factors affecting the mucus.
- Millet protects the gastric mucosa against ulceration.
- Foxtail millet in traditional Chinese medicine is used to treat
- vacuity heat of the spleen and stomach
- stomach reflux vomiting
- reduced food intake with abdominal distention
- Foxtail millet has antiulcer activity through,
- suppressed levels of plasma and mucosal TBARS
- increased gastric non-protein sulfhydryl (NPSH) digestive enzyme activities.
Anticancer effects of millets:
- Due to their antioxidant property, millets are considered to halt the degenerative process in the body and prevent carcinogenesis.
- Kodo millet phenolic extracts rich in ferulic and p-coumaric acids were effective in inhibiting hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals.
- A peroxidase enzyme from foxtail millet bran was found to inhibit cell migration in human colon cancer cells.
- Bioactive compounds like vanillin from proso and barnyard millets inhibits the cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in colon cancer cell lines.
- Bran of certain sorghum lines has up to 10 mg/g 3-deoxyanthocyanidins. This shows strong anti-proliferative activities when tested against various human cancer cell lines. Its potential was comparable to that of quercetin, one of the most potent antioxidant molecules.
Millets in allergenicity treatment:
- Celiac is a disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food. People from this disease cannot tolerate gluten.
- Millets are gluten-free and non-allergenic; a great grain for individuals with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.
- Immunochemical assays also confirmed the safety of sorghum-based foods for celiac patients.
- Introduction of gluten-free breads and other baked products in the diet for celiac patients through millet intervention is recommended.
Other diseases:
- Overproduction or under-excretion of uric acid leads to the elevated serum uric acid[hyperuricemia] , resulting in numerous diseases in humans. New drug-like molecules from millets such as luteolin is a natural source to prevent and treat hyperuricemia and related diseases.
- Polyphenols have demonstrated potential anti-Alzheimer’s disease effects in cellular and animal studies.
- Millets have also demonstrated neuroprotective effects in Parkinson’s disease and other cognitive disorders.
Millets as functional diet:
- Functional foods offer health benefits that extend beyond their nutritional value and contain supplements or other additional ingredients.
- Millets are fortified with vitamins, minerals, probiotics and fibre.
- Presence of phenolic compounds[secondary metabolites] makes millets therapeutic.
- Compounds like phytosterols, lignins, polyphenols, phycocyanins, and phytoestrogens act as antioxidants. They prevent damage to cellular membranes or genetic material within the cell.
- Millet phenolics have a number of health-promoting and protective properties. They offers benefits like antimicrobial, immuno-modulatory, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anticancer, antiplatelet aggregation, and inhibitory activities on cataract formation and digestive enzymes.
- Grain sorghum whole kernel oil (policosanol rich wax) serves as a heart health ingredient in functional foods.
- Jobelyn is a traditional herbal preparation in west Africa and it is available online in the form of capsules. This standardized dried powder is a phytochemicals that target the management of HIV-AIDS, chronic inflammatory conditions and anemia.
- Jobelyn is rich in carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, iron, natural vitamins like B12 and vitamin C.
- It also contains Selenium, Omega 3,6 and 9 and other essential elements and fatty acids.
Millets as a potential source of nutraceuticals is indeed a big leap toward our goal of ensuring nutritional security for all.
Government eyes on millets:
- Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry for Millet-Based Products (PLISMBP): Implemented by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) from 2022-23 to 2026-27, this scheme has an outlay of ₹800 crore. It encourages the production of millet-based products by providing financial incentives to food processing companies.
- Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMF ME) Scheme: Launched under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, this scheme is operational in 35 States and Union Territories. It aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and promote formalization of the sector.
- Agri-Infrastructure Fund Scheme: This initiative offers interest subvention on loans up to ₹2 crore for farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and entrepreneurs to establish primary processing units for millets, thereby strengthening the value chain.
- Eat Right Campaign by FSSAI: Under this campaign, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is raising awareness to promote the inclusion of millets as part of a healthy and varied diet.
- International Year of Millets (IYM) 2023 Initiatives: As part of the promotional activities for IYM 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is showcasing millets during India’s G20 presidency and in various events such as the International Trade Fair and Surajkund Mela. A ‘Millets Experience Centre’ has been established at Dilli Haat, New Delhi, to raise awareness and encourage adoption among the general public.
- State-Level Millet Missions: States like Karnataka, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh have launched their own millet promotion initiatives.
- Karnataka’s ‘Savayava Bhagya Yojane’ focuses on organic farming and millet promotion
- Chhattisgarh’s ‘Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana’ provides input subsidies to millet farmers.
These schemes collectively aim to revitalize millet cultivation and consumption across India, benefiting farmers and contributing to nutritional security.
Conclusion:
In India, millets are called as SHREE ANNA “the mother of all grains.” This rebranding underscores their significance as nutritious, climate-resilient, and sustainable crops. Millets have been a staple food in Indian diets for centuries . Now they are gaining renewed attention for their health benefits. They play major role in addressing global challenges like malnutrition and climate change.
By embracing millets as Shree Anna, India is not only reviving an ancient food tradition but also paving the way for a healthier, more sustainable, and climate-resilient future.
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