Barnyard Millet as a Substitute of Rice in Preparation of khichdi for Diabetics

Diabetes is among one of the most prevalent chronic disease where diet has a major role to play. Khichdi is a nutritious traditional food most commonly consumed in India. Khichdi contains goodness of both cereal and pulses. Cereal proteins are generally deficient in lysine and pulses (legumes) contain low amount of methionine. However, when both cereals and pulses (legumes) are present in the diet in proper proportions, nutrients from both sources combine to make perfect combination. PRJ-1 variety of barnyard millet was used in preparation of barnyard millet khichdi and Swarna variety of rice was used in preparation of rice khichdi. Bengal gram (legume) was used as common ingredient in preparation of both barnyard millet khichdi and rice khichdi. The results on proximate analysis reveal that except carbohydrate and physiological energy all the values were higher for barnyard millet khichdi. The protein, fat, crude fibre, total minerals, carbohydrate and physiological energy values were 12.28 g, 3.84 g, 6.44 g, 2.61 g, 63.7 g and 338 Kcal/100 g for barnyard millet khichdi and 8.65, 2.67, 0.61, 1.05, 76.84 and 365 Kcal/100 g for rice khichdi, respectively. Mineral composition viz; calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, chromium and phosphorus values for barnyard millet khichdi were 27.4, 4.44, 4.36, 87.19, 0.039 and 225.3 mg/100g whereas for rice khichdi the values were 18.73, 3.64, 1.44, 52.87, 0.005 and 171.89 mg/100g, respectively. A non significant difference was observed in sensory characteristics of both barnyard millet khichdi and rice khichdi. Both were under acceptable range of score card and Hedonic scale. The glycemic index of rice khichdi was significantly higher (62.5) than barnyard millet khichdi (34.96) The data thus obtained depict the slow sugar releasing property of barnyard millet making it a best substitute for people suffering from diabetes.