BHUBANESWAR: Researchers from the Central University of Odisha (CUO) at Koraput have identified three indigenous millet varieties grown in the district as exceptionally nutrition-rich which can give a big boost to nutritional security of people while having the potential of making a mark in the high-value food chain.
The three indigenous little millets Mami, Kalia and Bada, mainly grown by tribals, have shown unusually high content of protein, fibre, energy, flavonoid, Vitamin-C, antioxidants, iron and zinc. They are nutritionally superior compared to the improved OLM 208 variety developed by OUAT-Berhampur and other varieties of millets grown locally, the researchers said.
The little millet genotypes will ensure the nutritional security of tribal inhabitants and have great potential to be used as an ingredient in high-value functional foods.
“The genotypes have ample scope for future breeding programmes to enhance the cereal quality and hold great potential in the food industry for making high-value functional foods”, said an assistant professor in the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources of CUO Debabrata Panda, who led the research.
The researchers conducted nutritional profiling of 14 indigenous little millet genotypes cultivated by tribal farmers from Koraput. Of which, they identified the Mami, Kalia, and Bada varieties are nutritionally superior to other varieties in the area. Little millet is one of the essential climate-resilient tribal crops domesticated in the eastern ghats by tribals.
“Due to modern agricultural practices and the green revolution, these vital genetic resources of little millet are gradually getting depleted. Its conservation in its natural habitat is necessary now. A strategy to promote commercial production of this indigenous little millet is required to boost the local economy,” said Panda who has been studying the nutritional and climate-resilient traits of local millet for the last 10 years.
The findings were published in the international Springer Nature journal ‘Planta’ last week.
The same group of researchers had last year identified some high-yielding finger millet genotypes, traditionally grown in the district, which have shown superior nutritional and yield traits. They had found that finger millet genotypes like Bhalu, Ladu, Telgu and Bada are better than the improved hybrid varieties like Bhairabi, Chilika and Arjuna.
Three varieties Telgu, Bada and Dushera showed better nutritional compositions - high protein, carbohydrate, fibre and energy content - and are very rich in flavonoids and antioxidants.