Study of Absorption behaviour, Functional and Pasting Properties of Pearl Millet Soaking under Different Chemical Stresses

The soaking kinetics, physical, functional and Pasting characteristics of Pearl millet treated under different (NaOH-0.1%, NaHCO3-0.5%, MgCl2-0.5%, Control-Distilled water) chemical stresses during soaking were studied. Peleg’s constants (K1 & K2) were used to study the effect of soaking under different chemicals on kinetics of soaking. The variation in values of Peleg’s constant shows that K1 & K2 are not only temperature dependent but also depends on the type of solution used for soaking. Lower value of Peleg’s constant signifies the high initial absorption rate and absorption capacity. Water binding capacity, Oil binding capacity ranges from 296.77±0.14 and 223.40±0.16 and 217.12±0.03 to 292.12±0.65 (%). Beside that hydration capacity, hydration index and other seed properties also varied significantly during soaking under different chemical stresses. Flour prepared from soaked grains shows the variation in the pasting properties as well, which ranges from 77.45 to 83.2 for pasting temperature, 447 to 1561 for final viscosity and 289 to 677 for Set Back viscosity.