Beyond Bird Feed: Proso Millet for Human Health and Environment

Abstract

Domesticated in 8000–10,000 BP in northern China, proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is the best adaptive rotational crop for semiarid central High Plains of the USA, where average annual precipitation is 356–407 mm. Proso millet has multiple benefits when consumed as human food. Proso millet is rich in minerals, dietary fiber, polyphenols, vitamins and proteins. It is gluten-free and therefore, ideal for the gluten intolerant people. Proso millet contains high lecithin which supports the neural health system. It is rich in vitamins (niacin, B-complex vitamins, folic acid), minerals (P, Ca, Zn, Fe) and essential amino acids (methionine and cysteine). It has a low glycemic index and reduces the risk of type-2 diabetes. Unfortunately, in the USA, it is mostly considered as bird feed, whereas it is mainly used as human food in many other countries. Besides human health benefits, proso millet has an impeccable environmental benefit. Proso millet possesses many unique characteristics (e.g., drought tolerance, short-growing season) which makes it a promising rotational crop for winter wheat-based dryland farming systems. Proso millet provides the most economical production system when used in a two years wheat/summer fallow cropping system in semiarid High Plains of the USA. It helps in controlling winter annual grass weeds, managing disease and insect pressure and preserving deep soil moisture for wheat. Proso millet can also be used as a rotational crop with corn or sorghum owing to its tolerance for atrazine, the primary herbicide used in corn and sorghum production systems. Proso millet certainly is a climate-smart, gluten-free, ancient, and small grain cereal, which is healthy to humans and the environment. The main challenge is to expand the proso millet market beyond bird feed into the human food industry. To overcome the challenge, unique proso millet varieties for human food and ready-to-use multiple food products must be developed. This requires successful collaboration among experts from diverse disciplines such as breeders, geneticists, food chemists and food industry partners.

Defensins of Grasses: A Systematic Review

“…Proso millet ( Panicum miliaceum L.) is a warm season annual grass cultivated predominantly in Asian and African countries. It is the main source of highly nutritious cereal grain with high protein content, especially for the people living in arid regions [ 108 ]. Hall’s panicgrass (Panicum hallii Vasey) is a wild-growing perennial grass native to North America that occupies a large geographical range with diverse climatic conditions.…”

Improvement of nutrient bioavailability in millets: Emphasis on the application of enzymes

“…High levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), unavailable carbohydrates, high dietary fiber, and the high satiety effect make millet diets ideal for health 10 . The nutrient richness in millets can give solutions to lifestyle‐induced health problems including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases 11 . It is experimentally proven that millets are a dietary option for combating diabetics/hypertension 8 …”

Capitalizing on a double crop: Recent advances in proso millet's transition to a food crop

“…The lower number of publications found for proso millet compared to the other species might be because till very recently it was almost exclusively used in animal nutrition. However, proso millet's agronomic characteristics provide convincing incentives for expanding its use as human food in the Western Hemisphere (Das, Khound, Santra, & Santra, 2019). The facts that it qualifies as “ancient grain,” is gluten‐free, and can be used for foods of low glycemic index support such goals.…”

“…The environmental and health benefits of proso millet—summarized in recent review articles (Das et al., 2019; Habiyaremye et al., 2017)—are the driving force for the growing interest in this species around the world. A summary of the opportunities and challenges of using proso millet in food products will complete the picture of this crop that has been part of human nutrition for millennia and has the potential to play a vital role in ensuring global food security.…”