Millet amino acid content

Barbeau, W. E. and Hilu, K. W. (1993). Protein, calcium, iron and amino acid content of selected wild and domesticated cultivars of finger millet. Plant Foods Hum. Nutr. 43,97-104. 

Malleshi, N. G. and Klopfenstein, C. F. (1998a). Nutrient composition and amino acid contents of malted sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet and their milling fractions. J. Food Sci. Technol. 35,247-249. 

Starbursvik, A. and Heide, O. M. (1974). Protein content and amino acid spectrum of finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) as influenced by nitrogen and sulfur fertilizers. Plant Soil 41,549-571. 

Less research has been carried out on millets than on other cereals. Nutritional quality is one area of priority. Like other cereals, millet has low contents of essential amino acids. For example, pearl millet contains in the order of 3 g lysine/100 g protein, whereas the World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 5.5 g/100 g. On the plus side, millets do not contain gluten proteins, so they are safe for those with celiac disease. Millets are low in certain minerals, including calcium. 

This is a larger variety of millet widely grown in Africa and Asia. Its protein contains less of the S-containing amino acids and it has a high leucine content which may have an adverse effect when intakes of tryptophan and nicotinic acid are low. 

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