Backround: Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is known for its health benefits as it is nutritionally superior to conventional food grains. Laddu are ball-shaped sweets which are popular in India and are often served at festive or religious occasions. Hence, an attempt was made to develop foxtail millet based value added laddu. Methods: Besan laddu was taken as control. Optimized foxtail millet laddu were nutritionally evaluated for proximate composition, sugars and minerals. Paired ‘t’ test was used to compare the physical parameters and nutrient composition of besan and foxtail millet laddu. Result: The developed foxtail millet laddu had the 11.61, 17.52, 2.64, 1.11 and 66.85% per 100g of protein, fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate respectively. There was no significant difference in sugar composition between the control and the optimised laddu. However, it was observed that the calcium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese of foxtail millet laddu were high as compared to control laddu.

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.