Germination induced changes in bioactive compounds and nutritional components of millets.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to compare the nutritional quality and the concentration of bioactive compounds inthe flours from dehusked and germinated foxtail, barnyard, and little millets. Germinated millet floursshowed significantly higher proteincontent (11.79-33.49%), total free amino acid content (66-334.87%) and protein solubility (13.83-34%), compared to the dehusked millet flours. The total phenols and flavonoidsin the flours from the three germinated millets were significantly higher by about 142.36 and 437.20%, respectively, compared to the flours from the dehusked millets. Mineral content was also found to be higher in the flours from germinated milletsin comparison to the flours from dehusked millets. The results of this study showed that the flours from the germinated milletshave the potential for their application in development of novel products,because of their enhanced nutritional value. The extracts from the germinated millets have the potential for use as functional ingredients in the development of novel processed fruit beverages.