Millets can be sustainable food sources in future agronomy because of its ability to flourish in harsh climatic conditions, however limited studies exist on the nutritional and hypoglycaemic properties of millets. This study is intended to identify millets as potential functional food ingredients based on their nutrient profile and in vitro starch digestibility. Seven millet types exhibiting diverse structures and compositions were investigated. Chemical composition revealed that depending on the millet type, millets are excellent sources of insoluble dietary fibre, lipids and minerals, these components had values ranging from 9.3-56.7 mg/g, 11.5-31.7% and 2.1-8.0%, respectively. Linoleic and oleic were the major unsaturated fatty acids detected in all the millet types. Millets were also found to be rich in free and bound phenolic acids. Kodo millet was found to have the highest free and bound phenolic contents. Expected glycemic index of millets ranged between 42.7 and 58.3, hence making them some valuable low GI food sources for diabetics. The obtained results may suggest that millets with its superior nutrient profile and hypoglycaemic property could be a promising ingredient for the functional food industry.
Keywords: starch digestibility; Millet; fibre; glycaemic index; phenolic; protein.