Nutritional, Antioxidant and Antinutritional Quality of Millets in Comparison to Rice

Background: Millets are highly variable small-seeded annual grasses, primarily cultivated as grain crops in marginal lands. They are the sources of protein, minerals and vitamins and help in reducing the incidence of various diseases. These “Nutri Cereals” are considered as “famine reserves” and have comparable nutritional quality with that of rice, the staple food of the region. Methods: Eight millet genotypes of Assam were evaluated and compared with a standard rice variety for nutritional, antioxidant and antinutritional constituents. Standard protocols were followed for the said estimations. Result: Millets were found to have comparable proximate composition with rice. Total phenol and antioxidant activity ranged from 190.58-280.89 mg GAE/100 g and 163.07-335.73 ìg/ml, respectively. Calcium and iron content ranged from 23.62-291.87 mg/100 g and 3.83-6.52 mg/100 g on dry weight basis, respectively. Tannin, phytate P and oxalate content ranged from 53.48-136.13 mg/100 g, 193.83-663.81 mg/100 g and 4.84-13.74 mg/100 g on dry weight basis, respectively. Millets were found to be superior to the rice variety in majority of the quality traits like crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, minerals, phenol, antioxidant activity, tannin, phytate P and oxalate content and therefore may be encouraged for inclusion in the common crop sequence for cultivation.