~ 276 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2019; 7(1): 276-281 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2019; 7(1): 276-281 © 2019 IJCS Received: 26-11-2018 Accepted: 30-12-2018 B Dayakar Rao Dr. B. Dayakar Rao (Principal Scientist), Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Sukreeti Sharma Er. Sukreeti Sharma (Senior Research Fellow), Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India E. Kiranmai Research Associate, Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India VA Tonapi Director, Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Correspondence Sukreeti Sharma Er. Sukreeti Sharma (Senior Research Fellow), Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India Effect of processing on the physico-chemical parameters of minor millet grains B Dayakar Rao, Sukreeti Sharma, E Kiranmai and VA Tonapi Abstract In order to diversify the uses on minor millets, the study was undertaken to understand the changes caused due to processing on the selected physico-chemical parameters. Results indicated significant difference (at 5% level of significance) for all the minor millets at physical and chemical levels. The physical parameters i.e. length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, arithmetic mean diameter, surface area were observed highest in case of puffed grain (3.75 mm, 3.38 mm, 2.31 mm, 3.08 mm, 3.15 mm, 30.58 mm 2 respectively and lowest for dehulled grain (2.05 mm, 1.72 mm, 1.18 mm, 1.60 mm, 1.63 mm, 9.59 mm respectively). Proximate composition expressed high values for protein and low values for ash, moisture and fat content when compared to raw millet grains, making processed Ready to Eat (RTE) product viable for snacking purpose. Keywords: minor millets, physical parameters, chemical parameters, dehulling, puffs Introduction Minor millets, also referred to as small millets, includes several grain crops namely barnyard millet, foxtail millet, kodo millet, little millet and proso millet. They contain 9–14% protein, 70–80% carbohydrates and are rich source of dietary fibre (Malleshi and Hadimani, 1993) [14] . These treasure trove of nutrition, have received far less attention, due to cultural attachments and non-availability of processed millet products similar to rice or wheat. Generally, millets, before consumption are preferred to be processed, to improve their edible, nutritional, and sensory properties (Lestienne et al. 2005; Shobana and Malleshi 2007) [11, 23] . Millets have high potential for processing at traditional and industrial levels, involving small, medium and large scale entrepreneurs (Obilana and Manyasa, 2002; Hamad, 2012) [19, 9] . The processing of the grain involves primary (wetting, dehulling and milling) and secondary (fermentation, malting, extrusion, flaking, popping, roasting etc.) operations, however limited information exists on the comparison of physico-chemical changes in minor millets, due to processing. The physical properties of millet i.e., size, shape, geometric mean diameter, surface area, volume, sphericity, 1000 seed mass, bulk density, porosity, play an important role in selecting the proper separating and cleaning equipment whereas the main dimensions are considered in selecting and designing the suitable size of the screen perforations, for their handling, storing and processing (Balasubramanian and Vishwanathan, 2010; Ojediran et al. 2010; Swami and Swami, 2010; Singh et al., 2010; Ramappa et al., 2011) [4, 20, 28, 25, 22] . Such basic information should be of value not only to engineers but also to food scientists and processors who may exploit these properties and set grading standards on millets like we have for rice and wheat. Although, the information on physico-chemical properties for many food grains is available, but the information of these properties for minor millets is lacking and hence this study was undertaken. Materials & Methods Procurement and preparation of sample Raw grains (barnyard, foxtail, kodo, little and proso millets) were procured from the stores of Indian Institute of Millets Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The grains were evaluated for their pre-formulation studies namely, bulk density, tapped density, sphericity and roundness. In the case of puffing, the grains were de-hulled to ensure the removal of inedible part i.e. husk and darker grains like barnyard, kodo and little were even polished to get pearl white products for consumer appeal.