Development of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) based Laddu

Abstract

Background: Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is the second-most widely planted species of millet. It is known for its health benefits. Laddu are ball-shaped sweets popular in the Indian Subcontinent. Laddus are made of flour, ghee and sugar with other ingredients that vary by recipe. They are often served at festive or religious occasions. Hence, an attempt was made to develop foxtail millet based value added laddu. Methods: Optimization of foxtail millet flour, ghee, sugar and roasting time was carried out. Sensory evaluation was done by nine point hedonic scale. Result: Standardization trials indicated that acceptable foxtail millet laddu could be developed by incorporating 50 per cent foxtail millet flour, 50 per cent bengal gram dhal flour, 45 per cent ghee, 75 per cent sugar powder and 40 minutes of roasting time in the standard laddu recipe. Physical and descriptive qualities of prepared laddus were also carried out. The nine-point hedonic scale was used for sensory evaluation. The developed foxtail millet laddu was highly accepted.