The pearl millet grain is small but has a proportionally larger germ than all
other cereal grains, except maize (Taylor 2004). The pearl millet grain
comprises about 8% pericarp, 17% germ (which is proportionally large)
and 75% endosperm (Serna-Saldivar & Rooney 1995). A thin waxy cutin
layer covers the surface of the pericarp. Beneath the pericarp, is a thin layer
of seed coat, and then a single aleurone layer (one-cell thick). Bran is hard
outer layer of cereals which consists of combined aleurone, pericarp and
part of germ. Generally the pericarp is thin, single layered with compact
2
aleurone cells, but multilayered pericarp with loosely arranged aleurone
cells is not uncommon (Hadimani et al. 2001). The colour of pearl millet
grain is dependent on endosperm and/or the pericarp colour. The grain
colour may be ivory, cream, yellow, grey, deep grey, greyish brown, brown,
purple and purplish black (IBPGR/ICRISAT 1993). The most common
and generally available colour is slate grey. The pearly-white grains produce
creamy white flour that has advantage of competing with other cereal
Pearl millet is rightly termed as “nutricereal” as it is a good source of
energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, ash, dietary fiber, iron and zinc. Pearl
millet is a rich source of energy (361 Kcal/100g) comparable with sorghum
(349 Kcal/100g), wheat (346 Kcal/100g), rice (345Kcal/100g) and maize
(325Kcal/100g). The carbohydrate content of pearl millet is 67.5 g/100g;
with 56 to 65% starch comprising 20 to 22% amylase and 2.6 to
2.8% free sugars mainly sucrose. It is high in fibre (1.2g/100g) and in α
amylase activity, when compared with other grains. The protein content of
pearl millet is (11.6/100g), comparable to wheat but higher than rice. It is
rich in methionine but poor in Sulphur containing amino acids. With low
prolamin fraction, pearl millet is gluten free grain and is the only grain that
retains its alkaline properties after being cooked which is ideal for people
with gluten allergy. Pearl millet is rich in fat content (5 mg/100g) with
better fat digestibility as compared to other grains. It is rich in unsaturated
fatty acids (75%) with higher content of nutritionally important n-3 fatty
acids than other cereal grains. Higher activities of lipases result in rapid
release of fatty acids, which limits its shelf life.
