Nutritional evaluation of popped and malted indigenous millet of Assam.

For better utilization of millets, two processing techniques, viz., popping and malting were standardized using two local varieties of foxtail millet (Setaria italica). In popped samples, crude fat and crude fibre contents were significantly lower than raw millet in both the yellow and purple varieties, while the carbohydrate and energy values were significantly higher. In malted samples, crude protein and fat contents were significantly lower than in raw millet in both the varieties, whereas the carbohydrate contents were higher. Starch digestibility was highest (42.4%) in yellow popped samples and lowest in yellow malted samples (21.8%). Protein digestibility was highest (13.2%) in purple popped and lowest (2.4%) in yellow malted samples.