Barnyard millet (Echinochloa species): an underutilized nutritional powerhouse with emerging nutraceutical benefits
The impact of climate change presents an opportunity for orphan crops like millet to contribute to sustainable food systems. A prime example of an orphan crop with special traits and the potential to develop climate-smart agriculture is Barnyard millet (BYM). Alkaloids, steroids, polysaccharides, glycosides, tannins, phenols, dietary lignans and flavonoids are just a few of the antioxidants that are abundant in BYM. BYM’s antioxidant potential, prebiotic status, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, antibacterial and anticancerous properties help it to combat a myriad of diseases. The antinutritional compounds present in BYM such phytic acid, tannins, polyphenols, and amylase inhibitors limit the absorption of minerals because they form complexes with dietary minerals like calcium, zinc, magnesium, and iron and make them inaccessible for absorption. Various processing methods like dehulling, soaking, heating, gamma irradiation, cold plasma processing, fermentation might enhance the nutritional and technological functional qualities of BYM. The bioactives in BYM can improve their bioavailability, in vitro digestibility, efficiency, structural modification and stability by biological processing techniques such as germination and fermentation employing microbial strains. BYM straw’s high cellulose and hemicellulose percentage makes C5 and C6 sugars accessible for bioconversion into bioethanol.