Consumers

This section aims to help provide consumers and local grains enthusiasts with some background information about millet, advice, and resources on grain-growing efforts and uses of millet in the High Plains.

Millet can be boiled, roasted, cooked into porridge, ground, baked into flat bread or chapatti. There are glutinous (waxy) and non-glutinous varieties. The flour of glutinous types is used for leavened bread and cakes while the flour of other types has to be mixed with wheat flour. Non-glutinous varieties can replace wheat for people gluten intolerant .

Millet seeds can be fermented into a kind of beverage and used for making beer and brandy.

Proso Millet

Proso is an annual grass like all other millets, but it is not closely related to pearl, foxtail, finger, or barnyard millets. Proso millet adapts to many soil and climatic conditions and is an excellent crop for dryland and no-till farming. it has a short growing season, and requires little water. The seeds are small and their color varies from brownish black to olive brown, orange-red, golden and ivory.

There are glutinous (waxy) and non-glutinous varieties. The flour of glutinous types is used for leavened bread and cakes (as in China) while the flour of other types has to be mixed with wheat flour. Non-glutinous varieties can replace wheat for people intolerant to gluten.

For the non-glutinous varieties, gluten free grain, it is the only grain retaining alkaline properties after cooking. The texture of cooked millet is similar to brown rice. Millet can be used in pilafs, casseroles or most oriental dishes that call for rice, quinoa or buckwheat. It can be ground into flour and used in flat breads or mixed up to 25% with wheat flour for use in yeast breads. After it has been soaked for a couple of hours, millet in its whole grain form cooks like rice in about 20 minutes. Millet cooks well into vegetable loaves and adds body to soups and stews. Millet added dry to your biscuit, brad and roll doughs adds a crunchy texture and brings variety to your baked goods.

The proso millet grains are fermented into a kind of beverage (tella). Proso millet grains are also used for making non-gluten beer and brandy.

Crop Profile for Proso Millet In Colorado

Millet can be boiled, roasted, cooked into porridge, ground, baked into flat bread or chapatti. There are glutinous (waxy) and non-glutinous varieties. The flour of glutinous types is used for leavened bread and cakes while the flour of other types needs to be mixed with wheat flour. Non-glutinous varieties can replace wheat for people gluten intolerant. Millets are easily digestible.

Millet seeds can be fermented into a kind of beverage and used for making beer and brandy.

Proso millet protein is richer in essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, methionine) compared to wheat. Thus, the protein quality of proso is higher (51%) compared to wheat. Compared with wheat, millet flours were high in ash and crude fat and were higher in protein content.

Generally, most millet variety grains have high nutritional value comparable to wheat, rice, and maize and are a major source of energy and protein and. Millets are unique among cereal grains due to their high calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, dietary fiber, polyphenols, and protein content. Millets are rich in micronutrients including niacin, B-complex vitamins, Vitamin B6, and folic acid.

Millet contain a high amount of lecithin which provides excellent support for nervous system health by helping to restore nerve cell function, regenerate myelin fiber, and intensify brain cell metabolism. Millets generally contain significant amounts of essential amino acids, particularly those containing sulfur (methionine and cysteine). Millets are a good source of essential amino acids are relatively high in methionine but relatively low in lysine and threonine. Millets have higher fat content than maize, rice, and sorghum.