Thanks, Gary. Yes, it goes without saying that people who cook and eat millet know how to process it for eating. I'll come back to finger millet below, but first, some comments on pearl millet and sorghum (sometimes referred to together as the "major millets"), including an article on approaches to roller milling sorghum into grits. SORGHUM & PEARL MILLET On the topic of sorghum and pearl millet: In West Africa, I never saw or heard of people eating the whole grains with the unique exception of pearl millet roasted on the cob, as it were, at harvest time (once in Niger). I ate quite a bit of pearl millet in various forms and much less sorghum, but in all cases it had been reduced to cracked grains / grits or flour. I am not that familiar with Indian cooking, but imagine that this is the same. The pearl millet I have consumed in the US is from India, as grits (or rava) or flour. I never ate whole sorghum grains until relatively recently, but had a cracked sorghum & sauce dish in Mali ("nyenyekini" was the Bambara term I recall it). I would personally prefer a cracked grain to cook in a rice cooker, and that or grits for hot cereal. I still believe there's a potential market in the US for products with coarse-milled whole sorghum, but that's another discussion. On the topic of sorghum grits, an older article reveals that there is more than one way to do it in an industrial context. (A.A. Abelrahman & E.P. Farrell, 1981, "Grits from Grain Sorghum Dry Millet on Roller Mills," Cereal Chem. 58(6):521-524 https://www.cerealsgrains.org/publications/cc/backissues/1981/Documents/chem... ). Interesting to note that whether or not a "pre-break" is involved in the process results in different fat and ash contents, and that moisture level (tempering) affects yield. All this is out of my domain, but it is interesting to note the science of coarse milling for sorghum, at least, is well established. So it would seem that any commercial effort in this regard would not have to start with basic research. FINGER MILLET Re finger millet: I actually first consumed it in the form of the malted non-alcoholic beverage "bushera" in Uganda. In the US, I have tried this grain in several forms, all packaged from India: * whole grain * grits or rava * coarse flour (just had that in a mix with oatmeal this morning) * flour (regular, fine) * flour from sprouted grains * occasional processed products I'm not sure how the whole grains are typically used, but I doubt that any further processing of what I bought is required, other than rinsing and perhaps soaking. (One can also buy whole pearl millet grains, but I haven't done that yet.) Anyway, I've cooked finger millet in a rice cooker, much as I do proso, foxtail, kodo, little, etc. I've occasionally taken leftover cooked whole finger millet, and cooked it (again) with rolled oats. But in any case, the texture is different than what one gets with the other small millets - again not disagreeable in any way, but I wonder what I'm chewing. As I mentioned, some sources from India classify finger millet together with sorghum and pearl millet as a "major millet," based on its not having hard hulls like small/minor millets. Anyway, I'd return again to the idea of animating the processing of various millets as being helpful for education and also businesses. Such animation might extend further into the processing, to include milling of grains and what that does to the various parts (it's apparently not always so simple). If we had the illustrators, if we had the money, .... All the best, Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Mon, Dec 2, 2024 at 9:10 PM Gary Wietgrefe via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
Users of the various millets certainly know if hull has to be removed before cooking and eating. Sorghum and pearl don’t have a hull like proso. Regarding finger millet, the only times I had it was visiting our orphan’s family compound and similar ones in northern Uganda. It was served as the staple at every meal (with cassava and greens). Someone more capable in botany and more artistic than me would be needed to give detailed descriptions of millets’ seed coats, but it would be helpful promoting millets in North America…..Gary
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On Dec 2, 2024, at 11:15 AM, collab-request@lists.millets2023.space wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Three items on pearl millet (Don Osborn) 2. Processing of grains of millets (Re: Collab Digest, Vol 34, Issue 13) (Don Osborn)
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Message: 2 Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2024 13:15:22 -0500 From: Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> To: collab@lists.millets2023.space Cc: Gary Wietgrefe <gww374@gmail.com> Subject: [Collab] Processing of grains of millets (Re: Collab Digest, Vol 34, Issue 13) Message-ID: <CA+RHibUAC96zm_65P94t7w=83zBYh60CUJrCP_15EkFcErc_Jg@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Thank you. Gary, for the information and insights.
When we talk about removal of components of a grain (hull, bran)
increasing
factors like fat and protein, I understand that not to be a paradox, but rather based on percentages of equivalent weight.
Also, my understanding is that the pericarps of sorghum and pearl millet (sometimes called "great millets," of course) are not "hulls" as commonly understood. It would be wonderful to have graphic animations of the comparative processes for various millets (which would require a fairly sophisticated production - perhaps a fundable project??). And that small millets (fka "minor millets") have hulls.
I'm a bit confused on finger millet, which Indian sources tend to group with the "major millets" as not having hulls. When cooking the whole grains, however, there is a chewiness (not disagreeable) that small millets don't have.
My impression is that adlay or Job's tears - our "millet-of-the-month" in December - is more like the major millets in terms of its pericarp.
All the best,
Don
DO, EL, MI, US NAMA
On Mon, Nov 25, 2024 at 9:56?AM Gary Wietgrefe via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
Processing to remove the pericarp (hull) of millets and sorghum vary depending on the type, seed size, and even variety of millet or sorghum. For example, proso has a loose or detached pericarp that removes quite easily compared to sorghum with an attached pericarp and is similar to wheat. Some varieties of proso are easier to hull mechanically than others. Also, hulling equipment must be set based on seed size because foxtail millets have 220,000 t0 240,000 seeds per pound, proso about 80,000 seeds/pound, and sorghum seed can range from 9,000 to 22,000 seeds per pound.
Obviously, seed coat removal of the husk, hull, bran, pericarp, mesocarp, testa, palea, lemma, and etcetera outside the endosperm of each seed type varies. On proso, we simply call it "hulling" or "dehulling" which is the same. Whereas the S. Shobana, et al. article states "dehusking" and "debranning" as quoted: "Results: *Debranning* resulted in decrease in protein (except for little and barnyard millets), dietary fibre, fat, mineral and phytate content in all the millets while enhanced available carbohydrates and amylose content. The cooking times for *dehusked* millets were significantly higher ...."
These articles (including the last from Easterly, Jones-Diamond, Dryland Genetics) tie into some of my 2005 private testing on U.of Nebraska's (then) newly released glutinous (waxy/sticky) variety Plateau vs. common white proso. Our research proximate analysis showed hull removal decreased ash, and fiber, while increasing protein, fat, and starch of Plateau and regular white proso. To me it made sense. Proso's hull is fibrous and holds field-residue dust and when removed increases the endosperm protein and starch and germ fat percentage.....Gary Wietgrefe
On Mon, Nov 25, 2024 at 5:00?AM <collab-request@lists.millets2023.space
wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. Two articles on processing of millets (Don Osborn) 2. Article on the 2024 sorghum harvest in the US (Don Osborn) 3. UNL-CSU proso millet testing in 2nd year (Don Osborn)
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Message: 1 Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2024 22:21:48 -0500 From: Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> To: collab@lists.millets2023.space Subject: [Collab] Two articles on processing of millets Message-ID: < CA+RHibVD4htW0csx_ZXKNYAe8+Pn-AX0Fu5geVuLW-BuOiM3qA@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Two items to share related to millets processing:
1. Jayasree Joshi, Sivaranjani Shanmuga Kumar, Rahul Kumar Rout, and Pavuluri Srinivasa Rao, 2025, "*Millet processing: prospects for climate-smart agriculture and transition from food security to nutritional security*," Journal of Future Foods, 5(5): 470-479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfutfo.2024.08.004 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772566924000582) Abstract: Millets, which are small-seeded grains, are classified under the Poaceae family and are known for their high nutritive content. Millets are a viable option for the global population in light of growing concerns about climate change due to their exceptional tolerance to a variety of abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, light, and heat. They have short growing periods and can be sustained in adverse weather conditions with less irrigation requirements. They encompass morpho-physiological, molecular, and biochemical characteristics that confer superior resilience to environmental stress. The millet grains have the potential to contribute to health and nutrition, rural employment, household incomes, rural and national economies, and sustainable environmental management. They are a rich source of both macro and micro nutrients. They contain a significant amount of bioactive substances, along with minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc. Millets need to be processed for consumption and preparation to improve its nutritional and sensory properties. The major challenge in millet processing is due to the lack of proper processing machineries, presence of antinutritional factors and the poor shelf life of the flour due to high lipase activity. This limitation can be mitigated by using the appropriate processing methods. This article gives an insight into millet processing and value addition and its role in ensuring nutritional security through climate-smart agriculture. Keywords: Millets; Climate resilient crops; Smart agriculture; Food security; Value addition
(Thanks to Hikmet Boyacioglu for posting this on LinkedIn. NB- The year in the citation is indeed 2025. One surprise for me was the discussion of electrical pulses as part of processing.)
2. Shobana, S., Mohanraj, K., Malleshi, N.G. et al. "Impact of debranning on the nutritional, cooking, microstructural characteristics of five Indian small millets." Discover Food 4, 136 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44187-024-00209-1 Abstract: Background: Millets are underutilized grains rich in nutrients. This study aimed to investigate the impact of debranning on the nutritional, cooking, and microstructural properties of five Indian millets namely foxtail, little, kodo, barnyard, and proso millet.
Methods: The proximate composition, mineral content, cooking properties (cooking time, solid loss, water uptake, alkali score), Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectra, X ray Diffraction (XRD) and microstructural characteristics (Scanning Electron Microscopy) of dehusked and debranned millet samples were examined and analysed.
Results: Debranning resulted in decrease in protein (except for little and barnyard millets), dietary fibre, fat, mineral and phytate content in all the millets while enhanced available carbohydrates and amylose content. The cooking times for dehusked millets were significantly higher while the solid loss and water uptake during cooking of debranned millets were higher. On debranning, Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectra showed changes in the pattern with increase in the intensity of amide II (1363 to 1367 cm?1) and amide III (1215 to 1231 cm?1) bands in the debranned foxtail, little, and kodo millets. The X-ray diffractogram (XRD) showed decrease in relative crystallinity on debranning. Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) examination revealed that debranning resulted in the loss of seed coat, aleurone layer and partial loss of germ in the millets.
Conclusion: Dehusked millets are nutritious and should be promoted in Indian diets to improve diet quality, debranned millets are nutritionally inferior, can increase the glycemic load of Indian diets.
(This is a topic I've personally wondered about. In some approaches to processing are we losing some of the benefits of millets that we are touting?)
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance