Pearl millet as an underutilized source of nutrition: A review on its nutritional composition, value addition and industrial applications

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.) is a sustainable and underutilized cereal crop as it is rich in nutrition. Studies have shown that pearl millet is an excellent source of micronutrients like iron and zinc, thus, provides a low-cost solution for combating micronutrient deficiencies in millet consuming regions and could be exploited for the preparation of nutrient-dense foods. The food value of pearl millet is superior to other cereals in its protein content with an excellent balance of amino acids and relatively high vitamin A content. Pearl millet is also richer in fat content (5–7 g/100 g). About 70% of the dry grain is predominantly carbohydrates, consisting of 56–65% starch, of which 20–22% is amylose. Aiming to its high nutritional content, pearl millet could be beneficial in formulation of various value added food products such as porridge, flatbreads (roti), pasta, vermicilli, noodles, papads, soups, Indian sweets (Halwa), bakery items, alcoholic beverages like opaque beer or dogon millet beer, chibuku shake, mbeg, Merissa and non-alcoholoc beverages like pombe, pito, boza, bushera and marewa. Pearl millet could be used as a cheaper source of starch as compared to other cereals which increases the utilization of pearl millet starch for industrial applications as well. This review mainly focuses on nutritional composition, value addition and industrial application of pearl millet.