Vol. 8, Issue 9, Part L (2024)

The presence of antioxidant in food is of high importance as they prevent diseases like cancer, diabetes, and certain heart diseases. The compounds present in the minor millet grains especially finger millet have potential antioxidant properties like free radical inhibition, peroxide decomposition, metal inactivation and oxygen scavenging. The phenolic compounds present in the seed coat of the finger millet are responsible for these properties. The incorporation of finger millet into ice cream increases the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the product. The antioxidant activity was measured by calculating the percentage scavenging affect by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reagent and correlating the values with standard gallic acid solution. The total phenolic content was estimated spectrophotometrically using phenol reagent.