Vol. 9, Special Issue 12, Part P (2025)

Resistant starch and digestible starch are key starch fractions influencing the glycaemic response and nutritional quality of cereal-based foods. The present study evaluated the resistant starch and digestible starch content of modern processed millet meals, namely foxtail millet, browntop millet, little millet, proso millet and Kodo millet, in comparison with rice meal prepared using the Telangana Sona variety (RNR 15048). Meals were standardized and prepared according to ICMR-NIN dietary guidelines (2024). Starch fractions were quantified using an enzymatic method and expressed as percentage on a dry weight basis.

Resistant starch content ranged from 2.98% to 3.82%, with foxtail millet recording the highest value followed by browntop millet. Among the modern processed cereal-based meals, resistant starch followed a descending trend as: Foxtail millet (3.82±0.007%) > Browntop millet (3.78±0.007%) > Little millet (3.18±0.006%) ≈ Proso millet (3.16±0.006%) > Kodo millet (2.98±0.006%) > Rice-Telangana Sona (2.66±0.005%).

Digestible starch content ranged from 54.3 to 70.6% among millet meals. The descending order for digestible starch was: Rice-Telangana Sona (81.2±0.162%) > Proso millet (70.6±0.141%) > Foxtail millet (69.5±0.139%) > Kodo millet (57.6±0.115%) > Little millet (56.8±0.113%) > Browntop millet (54.3±0.108%). Significant differences were observed among millet varieties (p<0.05). The findings indicate the nutritional potential of modern processed millet meals for improved starch quality.