Millets as a Source of Nutrients and Nutraceuticals for a Sustainable Future

Millets hold an important place as a source of food and feed in drought prone semi-arid and arid regions of the world. They are promising in achieving food/nutrition security and a sustainable future. Millets not only are rich in slowly digestible and resistant starch, non-starch polysaccharides, dietary proteins and essential nutrients but also exert antioxidative, antiinflammatory, antihyperlipidaemic, anticancer, neuroprotective and low-glycaemic index characteristics owing to the presence of appreciable quantities of an array of nutraceuticals (phenolics, saponins, phytates/phytic acids, carotenoids, tocols and bioactive peptides). Moreover, millet cultivation presents many agro-economic advantages, for example, short crop duration, ability to grow in marginal soils under rain-fed conditions, resistance to high temperatures, water stress and diseases/pests, lesser requirements of agricultural inputs and lower labour-intensive farm operations compared to conventionally grown food crops. This chapter provides an overview of the nutritional/nutraceutical properties and agro-economic advantages of millets in order to highlight their importance in achieving a sustainable future.