Analysis of Nutritional Diversity and Antioxidant Activity of Finger Millet Landraces

Background: Finger millet landraces exhibit great diversity as it grown in wide range of climatic conditions. Landraces keep huge nutritional and antioxidant potential but it has been highly ignored during the course of time. Exploration of landraces are essential to find out potential landraces on the backdrop of malnutrition in tribal pockets and nutrient deficiency in urban region. Methods: Finger millet landraces were collected from tribal pockets of Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dhule and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra, India. Nutritional and antioxidant studies were done by following standard protocols. Result: Obtained results shows nutritional diversity and exhibit good amount of antioxidant activity. Landraces exhibited significant amount of protein (3.55% to 18.20%), carbohydrates (40% to 78.33%) and reducing sugars (149.67 mg/100 gm to 666 mg/ 100 gm), while vitamin C content did not show variations. Difference in the tannin content of red-brown (7444.67 mg/100gm) and white grains (1347 mg/100gm) was noted. Variation in the phenolic, flavonoids contents and antioxidant activity were noted. The highest antioxidant activity was noted during the investigation (84.95%, 81.41% and 80.53%). To conclude, finger millet landraces are highly nutritious and need to be conserve as potential source of nutrients and antioxidant and for nutritional traits.