• Jemima Beryl Mohankumar
• Stella Satheesh

Introduction: The year 2023 is the International Year of Millets. Indian millets are a group of nutritiously rich, drought tolerant and mostly grown in the arid and semi-arid regions of India. They are small-seeded grasses belonging to the botanical family Poaceae. They constitute an important source of food and fodder for millions of resource-poor farmers and play a vital role in ecological and economic security of India. Rationale: Indian Millets are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice as they are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) porridges were prepared and fermented with a view to use the beneficial probiotics for the digestive health of children. Hypothesis: Fermented Porridge from a blend of millet and rice can offer high quality of nutritional value and acceptability by consumers. Method: Spontaneously fermented finger millet and pearl millet porridges were prepared by making a slurry of fine millet flours with boiled cooled water; fermented for 15 hours; cooked with broken rice grits and excess water until well cooked and attained porridge consistency with further fermentation for 15 hours. Conclusion: Fermented millet-rice-blend based porridges in a ratio of 5:1 provided enhanced Lactic acid Bacteria compared to the unfermented porridges which may be recommended as a synbiotic food matrix supporting gut health among children with persistent diarrhoea or antibiotic-associated diarrhoeal issues. Absence of enteropathogens among the cooked and fermented porridges indicate safe food consumption.

millets; fermentation; porridge; nutrient composition; therapeutics

"Nutrient Composition and Microbial Quality of Fermented Millet-Based Porridges", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 12, page no.f41-f49, December-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2312507.pdf

"Nutrient Composition and Microbial Quality of Fermented Millet-Based Porridges", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 12, page no. ppf41-f49, December-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2312507.pdf