Millet as a Sustainable Nutri-cereal for Food Security and Healthier Life: A Comprehensive Review
Abstract
Millets are considered minor cereals with a high nutritional profile and healthpromoting effects. They are rich sources of essential vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, and diverse bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, phytosterols, and tocotrienols. Preclinical and epidemiological evidence highlights the therapeutic potential of millets, demonstrating notable antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, and immunomodulatory effects. These attributes have strengthened interest in millet-based nutraceuticals, which can be effectively utilized as probiotics, prebiotics, dietary supplements and functional ingredients for various health-enhancing applications. Beyond their nutritional significance, millets are increasingly recognized for their contribution to global food security. Their resilience to drought, poor soils and fluctuating climatic conditions makes them ideal crops for environmentally stressed regions. Overall, millets offer a worthwhile, healthy option, with diverse health-promoting benefits, making them an automatic choice in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Millets are nutrition- and climate-smart crops that integrate food security, human health, and environmental sustainability within a single agricultural system. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the nutritional composition, therapeutic potential, market growth, and current cultivation landscape of millets. By integrating scientific evidence and global trends, this review underscores the pivotal role of millets in advancing nutrition security, supporting climate-resilient farming systems, and contributing to broader sustainable development goals.