Preparation and Processing of Ancient Millets for the Production of Nutritious Malt Powder with Natural Fruit Flavours

Abstract

An experiment was undertaken with an attempt to exploit the commercial use of Kodo and little millet, and to improve the nutritive value of the products developed from the grains by incorporating fruits such as mango & sapota. Kudos millet and little millet grains were malted by soaking in potable water for 18 hours, germination for 30 hours followed by drying at 50°C till moisture was reduced to 5% and then milled in two different ways, First sample was prepared by using combination of 50:50 Kodo and Little millet flour and other ingredients such as 100 grams of milk powder, dried sapota powder (50 g), joggery (50 g). And for sample-2 Kodo millet and little millet flour (50:50) and other ingredients such as milk powder (100 g), dried sapota powder (50 g) and sugar (50 g) are added. In the same way another two samples are prepared by using dried mango powder. All prepared samples are evaluated by sensory panel. Results revealed that among all the formulations tried, the sapota fruit flavoured malt with joggery got higher sensory scores. The physico-chemical characteristics of the most acceptable malt powder were analyzed. When compared with normal ragi malt powder the sample contains significantly higher amounts of protein, fiber and minerals and vitamins (i.e., Calcium, Iron and Phosphorous) the most acceptable malt powder is then packed in HDPE and subjected for storage study for a period of 3 months at cool and dry place. Sensory scores show decreasing trend in overall acceptability of the products with increase in storage.