Exploring the nutraceutical potential of foxtail millet: a minor millet with a major impact on nutrition security
摘要
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) is an important small millet grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world for food and forage purposes. India is the second top-most producer of foxtail millet in Asia after China in terms of area and production. Being a C4 crop, foxtail millet has excellent photosynthetic efficiency and produces a high yield even in minimal nutrient-containing soil and low precipitation. Foxtail millet also has high water use efficiency and exhibits remarkable tolerance against abiotic stresses. Owing to these properties and their genetic relatedness to the C4 grasses, foxtail millet serves as a model for studying C4 photosynthetic and biofuel traits. However, the nutritional potential of this crop is often overlooked. The nutrient content of foxtail millet is far superior to major cereals as the grains are rich in protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, and diverse health-promoting bioactive compounds. This nutritional superiority has the potential to significantly impact human health and well-being, offering a promising solution to nutritional deficiencies and related health issues. However, a comprehensive investigation of foxtail millet for its nutraceutical properties is lacking due to the scarcity of concrete molecular evidence. This underscores the need for further research in this area. The present review highlights the potential of foxtail millet as a nutri-cereal and discusses various molecular studies performed on it to harness its nutraceutical properties, emphasizing the importance of ongoing and future research in this field.