EMERGENT LIFE SCIENCES RESEARCH - Vol 10, Issue 1, Published on 30, June 2024

Pages: 1-9
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Millets for food and health security: A review

Author: Aparana Sharma, Anupama Sandal

Category: Mini Review

Abstract:

Millets are small sized cereal food crops that are mostly native to Asia, especially India. The nutritional composition of these small grained crops has earned them the name of ‘Nutri-cereals’. These belong to ‘Pseudo’ cereals and are a member of the family ‘Poaceae’. In the field, these crops can withstand conditions generated by climate change and off-field their nutritional content helps them fight hunger and other health conditions thereby providing positive effects on health. Millets are rich in both macro and micronutrients, however, their health benefits are more pronounced due to the presence of micronutrients including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, flavonoids, and polyphenols. The present world is struggling for food. Both, growing food and feeding the population is the biggest challenge, the whole world is facing today. Adverse climatic conditions are continuously challenging the productivity and yield of cereal crops and at the same time hidden hunger, malnutrition, obesity, and other degenerative diseases are affecting a large portion of the population due to unhealthy and non-nutritious food. Millets are a suitable answer to these problems. The present review is an attempt to explore the nutritional aspects of millets which makes it a suitable food option for the world’s population. The benefits of its nutritional composition to support a normal healthy human life are also attempted to discuss health security.

Keywords: food security, health security, millets, nutri-cereals, pseudo-cereals

DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.31783/elsr.2024.1010109