Development of food products based on millets, legumes and fenugreek seeds and their suitability in the diabetic diet.

A multitude of investigations have demonstrated the beneficial hypoglycemic effect of millets, fenugreek seeds and legumes in diabetic subjects. However, the bitter taste of fenugreek seeds and coarse nature of millets have been limitations in using them in daily dietaries. Moreover, as of today, the availability of special foods for diabetics in the Indian market is negligible. The millets, fenugreek seeds and legumes in judicious combination, after suitable processing, were used to formulate three nutritious food products--dhokla (leavened steamed cake), uppuma (kedgeree) and laddu (sweet balls), which are popular traditional snack foods in India. Evaluation of these food products for glycemic response in five normal and five diabetic subjects showed hypoglycemic effects in terms of glycemic-index (GI). The highest GI was observed for dhokla (34.96) followed by laddu (23.52) and uppuma (17.60) in normal subjects. All three food products differed significantly from each other in GI. Comparison of GI of all three food products in normal subjects with diabetes did not show significant differences (P approximately 0.05). The food products were well tolerated and acceptable to the subjects. These food products may have an important role in dietary management for diabetic people and may cater for their needs on a large scale if commercialized.