OPTIMISATION OF CONDITIONS FOR BARNYARD MILLET GERMINATION

Abstract

Development of foods that promote health and wellbeing is one of the key priorities of food industry. Barnyard millet, important minor millet is highly digestible (81.13 per cent) and contains fair amount of protein (12 per cent) coupled with low carbohydrate (58.56 per cent) of slow digestibility (25.88 per cent). The nutritive value and taste of barnyard milled can be improved by germination. The present study concentrates in the optimization of conditions for barnyard millet germination to maximise the nutritive value and overall acceptance. The barnyard millet was cleaned, soaked in water with varying time intervals followed by 24 hrs germination. The dried grains were powdered, sieved and then subjected to organoleptic evaluation. The parameters such as moisture absorption, sprout length, malt yield and germination percentage were worked out. Based on organoleptic evaluation, the germinated barnyard millet flour, 10hrs soaking and 24 hrs germination was found to be the best and utilized for the production of value added products. As the soaking time increases (4 to 18hrs) the moisture absorption increases from 35.16 and 54.12 per cent. The sprout length reaches a maximum of 0.4 cm at 18hrs of soaking. The malt yield differs from 59.62 to 71.54 per cent with respect to soaking time.