A Review on the Biochemical, Antimicrobial and Organoleptic Studies on the Germination Profile of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana)

Finger millets (or ragi) are cereals and the staple food of the millions residing in the arid and semi-arid tropics of the world. The grains of finger millets, being nutritionally superior to wheat provide Carbohydrates, dietary fibers, minerals and vitamins to poorest of the poor where the need is essential. Finger millet can be regarded as a functional food, to be taken as part of the usual diet in order to have beneficial effects that go beyond basic nutritional function, thus helping to reduce the risk of obesity, malnutrition, and premature aging. An important factor of the functional food which is required to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses is ‘proper intake and antibacterial activity’. Antibacterial is used to treat bacterial infections, Germinated finger millet seeds extract (12hour sample) has a bactericidal property against Escherichia coli and can be consumed for management of infectious diarrhoea. However prolonged use of certain antibacterial can decrease the number of gut flora, which may have a negative impact on health. Results indicate that potential exists to utilize finger millet as an alternative natural antioxidant and food preservative. Sensory evaluation was carried out to project the organoleptic appeal, which proved that ragi sample was very well accepted.