Millet Processing: Innovative Technologies

Millets have established their dietary advantages for its consumers and their role have been proven as nutraceuticals in combating many lifestyle diseases. There are many types of millets which have been traditionally cultivated and consumed in various parts of India and the world especially in dryland. Millets have several advantages with varied challenges in post-harvest handling and processing which limits their market demand and value chain. Development of various processing technologies along with suitable processing machines have made it possible to overcome major challenges related to decortication/pearling, shelf life, off-flavours, rancidity etc. There have been many traditional recipes for consuming millets. However, research has made it possible to process millets into various ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat innovative products and hence presented a great opportunity for entrepreneurship. These technologies have also made it possible to prepare diversified food products at industrial scale with higher efficiencies. Many such products could find a place in nutrition-related programmes for women and child development and serve as functional foods. Moreover, recent initiatives of Government in popularizing millets, not only at national level, but at international level have paved the way for creating a niche for millet-based food products.