American Journal of Food Science and Health Vol. 1, No. 3, 2015, pp. 69-75 http://www.aiscience.org/journal/ajfsh * Corresponding author E-mail address: ebabiker.c@ksu.edu.sa (E. E. Babiker) Effect of Supplementation and Cooking on in vitro Protein Digestibility and Anti-Nutrients of Pearl Millet Flour Azhari A. Mohammed Nour 1 , Isam A. Mohamed Ahmed 2 , Elfadil E. Babiker 3, * , Mohamed A. E. M. Ibrahim 4 1 Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Omdurman Islamic University, Omdurman, Sudan, Now: Al baha University, Saudi, Arabia 2 Departmentof Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan 3 Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural science, King Saud University, King Saudi Arabia, Riyadh 4 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public and Environmental Health, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan, Now: Al baha University, Saudi, Arabia Abstract Millet flour was supplemented with different levels (5, 10 and 15%) of Moringa seeds flour (MSF) or fenugreek defatted seeds flour (FSF). The effect of supplementation and cooking on anti-nutrients and in vitro protein digestibility was investigated. Supplementation of millet flour with 5, 10 and 15% MSF or FSF significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased the anti-nutritional factors (phytic acid and total polyphenols) and in vitro protein digestibility of millet flour. Cooking of millet flour with or without MSF or FSF decreased the anti-nutritional factors, protein content and in vitro protein digestibility. Keywords Digestibility, Supplementation, Anti-Nutritional Factors, Phytic Acid, Tannin, Polyphenols, Cooking, Moringa, and Fenugreek Received: April 7, 2015 / Accepted: April 29, 2015 / Published online: June 23, 2015 @ 2015 The Authors. Published by American Institute of Science. This Open Access article is under the CC BY-NC license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 1. Introduction Pearl millet is a staple food for a large section of the population in Asian and African countries. Besides supplying calories and proteins in the diet, pearl millet is a good source of essential minerals (Abdalla et al., 1998). Pearl millet like other cereal grains, the abundance of anti-nutrients such as phytic acid and polyphenols inhibits proteolytic and amylolytic enzymes, limits protein and starch digestibility and makes poor human bioavailability of minerals. In Sudan, millet is a staple diet of the people in the Western region (Darfur) and is consumed as thick porridge (Aseeda), a thin porridge (Nasha and kisra) (unleavened bread) from fermented or unfermented dough. Protein digestibility varied among milled fractions of the grain and was reported to be inversely related to the proportion of coarse bran removed during milling (Hulse et al., 1980). The invitro protein digestibility of three pearl millet cultivars was found to be 47.80, 50.62 and 45.22% (Eldogasabi, 2009), while Elyas (1999), findings was 60.5% and 61.9% of in vitro protein digestibility of two cultivars of pearl millet. Abdalla, (2003) reported 69.0 and 76.9% in vitro protein digestibility for two pearl millet cultivars, while Ali et al, (2003) reported 68.1% and 75.9% for two pearl millet cultivars. The invitro protein digestibility of the millet flour was found to be 78% (Monawar, 1983). Khetarpaul and Chauhan (1991) reported a value of 51% for raw pearl millet which is