Technological and Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Hydrothermally Treated Finger Millet

Ushakumari, S. R. (2009) Technological and Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Hydrothermally Treated Finger Millet. Doctoral thesis, University of Mysore.

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Abstract

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) or ragi is one of the important minor cereals in Indian subcontinent and also in several of the African countries. The millet kernels are small sized naked caryopsis and comprise of seed coat, germ and endosperm, which form about 13 - 15, 1.5 - 2.5 and 80 - 85% of the grain respectively. The millet contains 6 - 8% protein, 1 - 1.7% fat, 65 - 75% starch, 18 - 20% dietary fiber and 2 - 2.5% minerals. The millet kernels contain soft and fragile endosperm covered by rigidly attached seed coat and get pulverized along with the seed coat whenever efforts were made for its decortication similar to other cereals and millets. In view of this, the millet has never been decorticated and it is invariably pulverized along with the seed coat and the whole meal is used for food preparation. The seed coat is normally of brick red to dark colored and contains polyphenols and pigments, which polymerize and turns dark and unattractive on cooking. Besides, the seed coat imparts characteristic odour and fibrous texture to its foods which affect their sensory qualities. Now a days, a lot of interest is shown by the non-traditional millet consumers in the millet foods due to its health benefits. Hence, need was felt to undertake R&D work to decorticate the millet, which could be cooked in the form of grains similar to rice, so that it would be readily acceptable by the non-traditional millet consumers also. Among the several methods of cereal processing, hydrothermal treatment or parboiling enhances the grain hardness and improves the milling characteristics. This is true with finger millet also. Recently conducted exploratory research work on the hydrothermal processing of finger millet at CFTRI, Mysore, has shown the promise of adapting this methodology for the millet for its decortication effectively. i Hydrothermal treatment or parboiling of cereals basically involves steeping to hydrate the grains near to their equilibrium moisture content, steaming to gelatinize the starch and dehydrating the same to safe storage moisture level. During parboiling, the grains undergo physicochemical changes leading to improvement in its processing (specifically milling) and nutritional qualities. Normally, in the case of rice, parboiling loosens its husk or seed coat and enables its decortication effectively. Contrary to this, in the case of finger millet, the intactness of the seed coat matter with the endosperm increases on hydrothermal treatment, rendering the decortication more difficult. The scientific information on the hydrothermal processing of finger millet as well as its decortication and also the effect of these on the nutritional and functional properties including the cooking characteristics are practically nil.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	finger millet, hydrothermal treatment, physicochemical characteristics, nutritional qualities, textural
Subjects:	600 Technology > 08 Food technology > 06 Preservation and Storage > 02 Drying and Dehydration 600 Technology > 08 Food technology > 14 Physical properties 600 Technology > 08 Food technology > 21 Cereals > 05 Ragi (Finger Millet)
Divisions:	Grain Science and Technology
Depositing User:	Food Sci. & Technol. Information Services
Date Deposited:	24 Mar 2011 11:25
Last Modified:	28 Aug 2018 06:55
URI:	http://ir.cftri.res.in/id/eprint/10004

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