Physicochemical and Nutrient Composition of Ready to Cook (RTC) Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica L.) Flakes in Comparison to Rice and Oat Flakes

Abstract

Ready to cook (RTC) foxtail millet flakes (Setaria italica L.) was subjected to evaluation of physicochemical and nutrient composition in comparison with commercial flakes of rice and oats. The RTC foxtail millet flakes exhibited darker, redder and yellower hues with ‘L’ (72.98), ‘a’ (3.15) and ‘b’ (18.48) values when compared to rice and oat flakes. Thousand flake weight and volume of the RTC millet flakes were 2.36 g and 14.97 ml, respectively with bulk density of 0.15 g/ml. Length, breadth, thickness of RTC millet flakes were 3.75, 3.05 and 0.42 mm, respectively with specific volume of 2.02 g/l. The hardness and crispness of RTC millet was 16153.70 force/g and 32.78 kg/sec, respectively. The expansion ratio of RTC millet flakes (8.04) was significantly higher than rice (1.68) and oat flakes (0.59). The RTC foxtail millet flakes exhibited lower water holding capacity (13.14%), water absorption capacity (198.8%), water absorption index (196.98), water solubility index (2.59), oil absorption capacity (99.7%) and higher solid loss (11.0%) when compared to rice and oat flakes. The millet flakes recorded moisture, fat, protein, total ash, crude fibre, carbohydrate and energy of 9.50, 0.53, 13.21, 1.23, 9.06, 53.40 per cent and 271 kcal, respectively.