Millets are not magical foods

Following a proposal by the Government of India, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations (UN) had recognised 2023 as International Year of Millets or IYM2023 to ‘create awareness and increase the production and consumption of millets’ and for “harnessing the untapped potential of millets for food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture”.

Image source: iStock

About millets

Millets are mostly hardy crops, better adapted to dry/shallow soil, high temperatures, short growing seasons, acidic or low fertile soils etc. While rice may require 120-140 com of rainfall, some millets require as little as 20 cm.

Millets and nutrition

There has been a large-scale push for millets in Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, the Mid-day Meal (MDM) Scheme, the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) etc. on the premise that they are nutritious (especially for calcium and iron), beneficial to the millet farmers and also to the environment. These options have to be based on evidence rather than emotion or opinion, especially as they involve crucial feeding programs.

Can millets meet nutritional requirements?

The introduction of millets on a large scale into the ICDS and MDM may not impact as positively on nutritional outcomes as the addition of nutrient dense foods (meat, eggs, poultry, fish, dairy), pulses, legumes, fruits, vegetables etc into these schemes.

The nutritional value of millets can be enhanced by some processes such as germination, fermentation, pressure cooking etc. but systems have to be set up for this in the schemes. Additionally if millets are pre-processed and packaged in large scale, costs can go up and the shelf life is not very long. Therefore storage and distribution facilities have to be also invested in. Processing of each kind of millet requires different technology and machinery.

In conclusion, the serious concern of child/infant malnutrition cannot depend on millets as the one stop solution. While cereals and millets that are traditionally consumed can be a part of the diet, malnutrition itself can only be addressed by increasing the diversity of each meal, and children, especially those that are not used to eating millets should not be made guinea pigs of large food schemes in the country. Improving the diversity and nutrient density of food by the addition of adequate quantities of pulses, legumes, eggs, poultry, fish, red meat etc. will have have long reaching positive and sustainable impact.

Table 1- Different types of millets

English Names	Hindi Names	Gujarati Names	Tamil Names	Kannada Names	Telugu Names	Bengali Names	Punjabi Names	Malayalam Names
Sorghum	Jowar	Jowari, Juar	Cholam	Jola	Jonna	Jowar	Jowar	Cholam
Pearl Millet	Bajra	Bajri	Kambu	Sajje	Sajja	Bajri	Bajra	Kambam
Finger Millet	Mandua, Nachani	Nagli, Bavto	Kelvaragu	Ragi	Ragulu	Marwa	Mandhuka, Mandhal	Ragi
Little Millet	Kutki, Shavan	Gajro, Kuri	Samai	Same, Save	Samalu	Sama	Kutki	Chama
Foxtail Millet	Kangni, Kakum	Kang	Tenai	Navane	Korra	Kaon	Kangni	Thina
Proso Millet	Barri, Chena	Cheno	Pani Varagu	Baragu	Variga	Cheena	Cheena	Panivaragu
Kodo Millet	Kodra, Koden	Kodra	Varagu	Harka	Arikelu, Arika	Kodo	Kodra	Koovaragu
Barnyard Millet	Sanwa, Jhangora	Sama	Kuthiravali	Oodalu	Udalu, Kodisama	Shyama	Swank	Kavadapullu
Browntop Millet	Hari Kangni	Hari Kang	Palapul/Kulasama	Korale	Andakorra		Hari Kangni	Chama Pothaval

Nutritional value of millets

The protein, vitamin and mineral content and composition of millets varies due to genotype, and water availability, temperature, soil fertility and environmental conditions during grain development.

The average carbohydrate content of millets ranges from 56 – 73 gm/100 gm which still makes it a high carbohydrate food irrespective of what the proponents of the grains may say. The least carbohydrate content is in barnyard millet.

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Even in the best-case scenario, none of the millets contain all the essential amino acids (EAA). The only way to ensure that the diet supplies all the essential amino acids is to consume foods that contain all of them or eat different foods in proportions that ensure availability of all the EAA. For e.g., pearl millet which is low in lysine, tryptophan, threonine and sulfur-containing amino acids should be consumed with foods that contain these EAA. Before pushing for large scale mono-crop cultivation of one or the other millet, these factors have to be considered.

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The body needs 20 different amino acids for its various functions and health. Of these, 9 are classified as essential because they have to be obtained from the diet. These are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Although your body can make nonessential amino acids, it cannot make essential amino acids, so you have to get them from your diet. After you eat protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids and then uses them for various processes, such as building muscle and regulating immune function. The amino acids are used for various functions in the body such as absorption, regeneration, growth, immunity, metabolism, neuro-transmission, detoxification, wound healing, hemoglobin production, sexual function etc. The need for these varies based on age, illness, infection, pregnancy, kind of activity etc.

Animal source foods (meat, sea-food, poultry, eggs, dairy) can provide all the essential amino acids. There is no plant source that offers all the 9 essential amino acids from one food and therefore there is a need to combine these foods judiciously to ensure all the EAA requirements are met. For eg. instead of making a porridge with ragi, adding green gram, milk or a combination of millets and cereals will ensure that the deficiency in one food is made up by another. Unless this is ensured, the meal will not contain all the essential amino acids.

Every other day we see announcements in the newspaper of millets being introduced into the mid-day meal scheme. This is celebrated and shared across different groups including activists, right to food and right to health activists. Let us, however, not forget that many of these foods have a very cultural context. While some Kannadigas would vouch that the chewy and sticky ragi mudde is a food to die for, a person unaccustomed to it would find that it sticks to their teeth and throat, making it a pretty unhappy experience.

Similarly, one could empathise with those traveling out of North Karnataka craving for the hard jowar rotis, or the Tamilians craving for dosa/idli and the Punjabi craving for wheat rotis. In exactly the same way, children are accustomed to certain foods and unaccustomed to others. Pushing new concoctions on children because they are ‘healthy’ or economic or good for the climate shows a certain insensitivity.

Would the middle class and elite of the country be as equanimous if similar items were delivered to our households and we were expected to feed them to our children because they are ‘healthy’ and good for our farmers? As a society, we have to stop othering and expecting poor children to put up with experiments, projects, trials, pilots, interventions and instead focus on foods that they are culturally used to, can be produced locally, are nutrient dense, hygienically prepared and tasty – coincidentally, things that most people would want for their own children.

Because of difficulty in digestion, there is a possibility that new consumers of millets may develop acute or chronic health issues. It is telling that the Indian Childhood cirrhosis almost disappeared once millets disappeared from the diets of children (to check this) although this has not been formally documented, pediatricians have noticed the association.

The absorption of heme iron present in meat containing food is around 25% while non-haem iron from plant-based foods has 2-10% absorption depending on the presence of inhibitors (such as phytates, polyphenols, calcium, phosphates etc.) and enhancers (such as Vitamin C) in the diet. It is also a fact that populations that consume millets as a staple are no more or less iron deficient than any other population that does not consume millets.

Niacin is present in millets and its deficiency pellagra (dementia, dermatitis and diarrhoea) is rare on populations that consume millets traditionally. It can however be found in populations subsisting predominantly on Jowar or maize.

Flavinoids in the bran of Pearl millets can contribute to goitre which occurs due to inhibition of conversion of thyroxine to tri-iodothyronine.

Goiter is due to the inhibition of the normal conversion of thyroxin to triiodothyronine. Pearl millet, along with other grains, contains oxalic acid, which forms an insoluble complex with calcium, there by reducing biological availability of this mineral.

Calcium concentration in pearl millet is quite low, and the presence of oxalate can exacerbate the deficiency. Although ragi has high concentration of 344 mg calcium/100 gm, this is not bioavailable unless processed appropriately. Pearl millet specifically contains oxalic acid which can form an insoluble complex with calcium, reducing bioavailability of this mineral.

Digestibility and bio-availability of nutrients from millets

Plants also contain lectins, phytates, tannins, phenolics, saponins, protease inhibitors, galacto-oligosaccharides, lectins, ureases, goitrogens, oxalic acid etc. which play are role in plant biology but can reduce the digestibility and absorption of nutrients essential for humans. These anti-nutritional factors can also affect the functioning of organs such as the pancreas, thyroid gland, liver etc. and can obstruct growth.

Whereas the bitter taste of tannins protects the grain from being eaten by birds and insects, in humans, tannins inhibit enzyme activity, adversely influence protein digestibility and cellulose breakdown, inhibit protein absorption, decrease utilisation of minerals and also adversely affect growth. Phytic acid and/or phytates form complexes with essential dietary minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium, thus making them biologically unavailable for absorption.

While millets can provide some of the B vitamins, Vitamin B12 is not available in these foods. The B vitamins are present in the aleurone layer and germ of the millets so excess processing and refining causing decortication can lead to losses. Dried kernels do not contain Vitamin C. Removing the hull by decortication can reduce the levels of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin by upto 50%.

Millets are considered to be ‘high-fibre’ of which 86.2% is insoluble and contributes to decreased transit time in the gastro-intestinal system. This fibre content is documented to be significantly higher than in rice and wheat. This is considered to make millets low glycemic foods and a good choice for diabetic patients.

While the fibre content can contribute to feeling of fullness or satiety after a meal, the lowered transit time means that this feeling lasts for a longer period of time. In children, this can translate to children feeling less hungry and eating less frequenty. Is this desirable in children, especially as they have smaller stomachs and need nutrient (rather than fibre) packed meals at frequent intervals (upto 5-6 times a day) to meet their daily requirements for growth and functioning?

Since children consume small quantities of food, it is critical that each 100 grams consumed is highly nutrient dense. So, if the child consumes millets and legumes which contain excess fibres and phytochemicals, because of the low digestibility, these foods can induce satiety, sometimes fairly quickly, so a child may eat a few mouthfuls and feel full. Because of lower digestibility the frequency of meals could also come down. For a child who needs adequate food, especially a malnourished one, it is important to ask whether the foods with low bioavailability and digestibility are the best foods of choice.

Processing of millets

It has to be remembered that millets cannot be grown and consumed directly if one expects them to meet some of the expectations around them. They have been traditionally consumed as thick or thin porridge, steam cooked products, fermented or unfermented breads, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages and snacks. In all cultures traditionally depending on cereals, a range of treatments of the whole seed before milling and sifting has been applied. The treatments procedures are steeping, fermentation, malting, alkali or acid treatment, popping, roasting (dry or wet), parboiling, and drying. One of the aims of seed treatment is to remove the polyphenolic compounds from the seed. Others are to improve storage quality, or to make many kinds of snacks and other popular foods. The traditional art of food preparation is not standardized and routine procedures have been passed on to the women through generations.

Source: Millet Advisor

Processing of millets decreases the anti-nutritional factors in millets and improves the bio-accessibility of nutrients. Many processing methods have been used traditionally like roasting/popping, soaking, germination and fermentation. All these methods have been reported to have a significant impact on the nutritional value of the grain. Malting of millets improves access to nutrients and has been reported to increase the bio-accessibility of iron by 300% and of manganese by 17%. The anti-nutritional factors decreased significantly with an increase in germination time due to hydrolytic activity of the enzyme phytase that increases during germination. The phytate content of millets can be reduced by germination as during the germination the hydrolysis of phytate phosphorus into inositol monophosphate takes place which contributes to the decrease in phytic acid. The tannins are also leached during soaking and germination of grains, and hence it results in the reduction in tannins . Boiling and pressure cooking also result in reduction in tannins. Fermentation is known to reduce the anti-nutritional factors and hence improves the protein digestibility.

If millets are being promoted, then there is a need for investment into processing – whether this will be done centrally, packaged and sold back to the community or local processing units will be set up suitable to the requirements of the millets produced in that area. The texture, size, hardness, moisture content etc. of the millets have to be factored into their respective geographic areas and some amount of research would be required to make the processes suitable for the different kinds of millets. In the absence of these, just powdering millets and making porridge, upma, biscuits, flat breads etc. will not have any nutritional value for the consumers. In children, pregnant women, elderly, the sick etc. this is of particular concern and the cost benefit analysis has to be done factoring in all of these.

There are methods suggested to decrease the anti-nutritional factors in millets and improve their bio-accessibility. Many of these processes have evolved from communities themselves over a period of time in an effort to make these millets more digestible. These include roasting, popping, soaking, germinating, fermenting, boiling, pressure cooking.. irradiation, extrusion cooking or high temperature short time (HTST) processing etc. Malting of millets is suggested as a way of increasing the bio-accessibility of several essential nutrients. Malting and fermentation can increase the amount of B vitamins and their availability.

The lipid content of millets, higher amounts of unsaturated fatty acids and high enzymatic hydrolytic activity makes them susceptible to development of odors and flavours after hulling or milling. Millet flour gets rancid quite rapidly. Because of their relatively higher fat content and in hot climates, wholemeal millet flour can keep only for short periods.

Dehusking of millets need some technological interventions. Each millet needs a different kind of machine and the millets should not be crushed. Setting up these tailor made units across the country has to be considered in any plans to introduce millets on a large scale.

Pearl millet develops bitterness by ten days and has low keeping quality (becomes rancid). Hydro-thermal and thermal near infrared treatments have been found to significantly decrease the enzyme activities of lipase, lipoxygenase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase, increasing rancidity free shelf life without altering the starch and protein digestibility properties.

Promoting millets indiscriminately can create a Catch 22 situation where millets turn rancid if unprocessed and therefore have short shelf lives, but processing itself can be difficult, costly and dependent on corporates. Processing can remove the anti-nutritional factors but can also remove some of the nutrients. Traditional methods of processing have been found to improve nutritional quality of millets but are labour intensive and have short storage periods. One way forward is to encourage communities to consume those millets that they have been traditionally consuming, supporting traditional and local systems of processing while improving the diversity of food.

Why can’t humans eat crops directly instead of going as feeds?

One of the argument in favour of humans consuming millets and legumes is often that the nutrients in these, instead of being available to humans, are being fed to cattle which are then consumed by humans. This is seen as wasteful for those concerned about nurturing the environment, soil etc. For example, the United States apparently produces 70% of the world’s soya beans, but only 2% of it is directly consumed by humans while the rest is processed to feed poultry, swine and cattle. The argument then is why can’t humans consume these foods directly thus saving a cycle of consuming water, land and thus contributing to wasteful use of resources and climate change.

To answer this one should consider the nutrient content of foods per 100 grams would be an important measure. Would 100 gm of millets or legumes provide equivalent nutrients as 100 gm of milk or meat? There is a reason why animal source foods are called nutrient dense while millets are not. In an effort to increase the amount of nutrients made available, people are encouraged to consume more quantities of cereals and millets. While this directly crosses the limit of recommended carbohydrate consumption, it is virtually impossible for many, particularly children and those with fragile gastro-intestinal conditions including Irritable bowel syndrome (Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis) etc.

Livestock upscale many of the inedible shrubs and small plants that humans cannot consume. These plants often do on grow in arable areas but rather on rocky and uneven surfaces that may anyway not have access to a lot of water. In India, pastoralism is a traditional form of rearing domesticated animals specifically livestock that are sustainable and go well with the need to protect the environment. The manure of the cattle is important to replenish the soil and therefore all the crops. Erasing livestock from the discussion around food will have far reaching debilitating consequences on our nutritional status as well as our sustainable agriculture models.

We need to challenge the hard marketing by corporates who see a market in millets and legumes because they create dependence which other more sustainable farming practices may not.

Ultimately, there can be no real solution to addressing the nutritional crisis in the country other than broadening the foods consumed, specifically animal source foods. This requires political will and a social commitment. It requires prioritising sound nutritional science over and above anything else to determine and facilitate what foods go into our plates.

Of course, if one wants to push some foods because they are beneficial to the farmer, because they are hardy and consume less water and because India happens to have been the push behind the International Year of the millets, then let us at least be clear about the reasons why we push millets and legumes indiscriminately especially onto children through school meal programs. The bigger question is, why are we so averse to giving children eggs, milk/dairy, poultry, fish, meat etc. which offer proteins of superior biological value, are digestible and also traditionally eaten in many cultures? Does the myth of India’s vegetarianism, being pushed under the garb of hyper-nationalism and by unethical caste-corporate nexus justify the large-scale erasure and denial of animal source foods in children’s diets? When will India declare the Year of the egg or milk or meat or fish?

References

György Füleky (2009) “Cultivated plants, primarily as food sources’ - – Vol. I, ©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

Patil, P. et al (2023) “Functional properties and health benefits of finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.): A review”, The Journal of Phytopharmacology 2023; 12(3):196-202

Kumar, A., Tomer, V., Kaur, A. et al. Millets: a solution to agrarian and nutritional challenges. Agric & Food Secur 7, 31 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0183-3

Irén Léder “Cultivated Plants primarily as food sourcs – Sorghum and Millets”, ©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), UNESCO – EOLSS, Sample chapter

Nutritional anemia, edited by Klaus Kraemer and Michael B Zimmermann, Sight and Life Press

Goswami S., et al (2020) “Rancidity Matrix: Development of Biochemical Indicators for Analysing the Keeping Quality of Pearl Millet Flour” Food Analytical Methods.

Vinutha T., et al (2022) “Thermal treatments reduce rancidity and modulate structural and digestive properties of starch in pearl millet flour”, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Volume 195, 2022, Pages 207-216,

Millet Advisor: Adding millets to your life https://milletadvisor.com/millets-name-in-different-languages/