Summary
This review, published in European Food Research and Technology, examines the influence of thermal processing techniques — such as boiling, roasting, autoclaving, extrusion and germination-assisted heating — on the nutritional quality of millets. It synthesises evidence on how heat modifies antinutritional factors, macronutrient structure and the consequent digestibility and bioaccessibility of proteins, carbohydrates and micronutrients. The paper is likely to contribute to understanding how processing can be optimised to enhance the nutritional potential of millets as food security crops.
UK applicability
Millets are not staple crops in the UK but are of growing interest as climate-resilient, nutrient-dense alternative grains; findings on processing-induced changes to bioavailability are relevant to UK food manufacturers, dietitians and public health researchers exploring diversified grain-based diets.
Key measures
Nutrient composition (proximate analysis); antinutritional factor concentrations (phytates, tannins, oxalates); protein digestibility (%); starch digestibility (%); mineral bioaccessibility (%); in vitro bioavailability estimates
Outcomes reported
The study examined how various heat-based processing methods alter the proximate composition, antinutritional factors, digestibility, bioaccessibility and bioavailability of nutrients in millet grains. It likely reported changes in protein, starch and mineral fractions alongside measures of in vitro digestibility and nutrient release.
Topic tags
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.