In keeping with the efforts for promoting and raising awareness on millets and their inclusion in daily diet considering the health benefits they bring, the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, which is the nodal agency for the Millet Mission, with the year 2023 declared as the International Year of Millets, has launched a Millet Showcase on its premises, describing ‘A to Z’ of millets.
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, who was on a visit to the institute on Thursday prior to the launch of the 9th International Food Convention (IFCoN-2023), inaugurated the Millet Showcase in the main building in the presence of CSIR-CFTRI Director Sridevi Annapurna Singh and senior scientists from the institute.
The CFTRI technologies on millets include convenience foods, bakery products, instant mixes and ready-to-eat products. Centre of Excellence on Millets, skill development and training, process know-how and product development, incubation centre and food testing and analysis are part of the institute’s activities on millets
The facility explains about millets and their health properties. Besides mentioning the local names of the millets and the types of millets cultivated by our farmers, the institute has made an effort to shed light on why millet consumption needs to be encouraged.
The facility has information on sorghum, finger millet, kodo millet, barnyard millet, pearl millet, proso millet and other varieties.
Sorghum is rich in protein, folic acid and dietary fibre. Prolamin protein in sorghum has hypotensive activity. They are rich in phenolics with cardio-protective and anti-cancer properties, a display at the facility explains.
The facility has also displayed some millet-based ready-to-eat food products developed by the institute. They include instant finger millet upma mix and proso millet upma mix.
The CSIR-CFTRI has developed millet processing machinery and some of these machineries have been commercialized with the technologies transferred to interested entrepreneurs. Information on the machinery including tiny millet mill, ragi mudde making machine, tiny rice cum millet mill, destoner, pedal operated dehuller, and rubber roller sheller huller are available.
One of the major drawbacks of using malted cereal flours, including malted ragi flour, in the beverage mixes is their tendency to sediment. This challenge has been addressed by the CSIR-CFTRI and the unique non-sedimenting malted ragi-based instant beverage mix has been developed. The new innovation was launched at the World Food India event in New Delhi recently.
The beverage mix from malted ragi is an instant drink mix. This can be reconstituted with a hot or cold mix and consumed. Beverage mixes available in the market contain mainly extracted solids from barley malt (barley malt extract) as a base material. The product developed by the CFTRI is unique as it contains refined flour from malted ragi at 30% level and the content of barley malt extract is reduced to above 18%, according to the institute. Such products can be seen at the showcase.
